E-tolls are not 'goggas' says Mantashe

Gwede Mantashe. Image: ANC

"People must not make e-tolls a gogga," Mantashe he said while addressing a crowd in the Wedela Community Hall in Carletonville. "It is not a gogga, it's a funding mechanism for world class infrastructure."

Mantashe said Gauteng was a smart province and the infrastructure made travelling between Johannesburg and Pretoria much easier and as a result people must pay for it.

His political lecture was arranged by the National Union of Mineworkers. He said the debate around e-tolls was sterile and needed to be elevated adding that at the start of infrastructure improvements, such as the Gautrain and Rea Vaya bus systems, people were also resistant.

"Now that they realise how the improvements have reduced travel time people are using them," he said.

Mantashe claimed that e-tolls would not affect food and petrol prices because those were determined by the price of crude oil on international markets

Referring to the recent spate of strikes, Mantashe said everyone had a right to protest but added that this right should not be imposed on others. "If you protest and demand a clinic - don't burn down a library," he said.

Source: Sapa via I-Net Bridge