Technology28.05.2013

No e-tolls protest song hits YouTube

By Staff Writer

Local musician Greg Georgiades has written a song protesting against the implementation of e-tolls on Gauteng highways.

The song, “NO E-TOLL!” has been posted on Youtube by Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa).

According to Outa, it did not commission Georgiades to write this song. “He did it for the cause.”

Song lyrics:

No e-toll, you take the breath from us, stealing our lives away
No e-toll, you take the breath from us, stealing our lives away
No e-toll, you take the breath from us, stealing our lives away
No e-toll, you take the breath from us, stealing our lives away

They tax you when you’re born, they tax you when you die,
They tax you in between, they’re certainly not shy.
They tax you for your time, they tax you for your space,
They tax you for being in the human race.

But it doesn’t quite stop there, you’ll find it all around,
High up in the air down here on the ground,
They tax you when you walk, till you can only crawl
There’s a tax for freedom, there’s nothing left at all.

Repeat chorus
No e-toll, you take the breath from us, stealing our lives away

The implementation of e-tolls on Gauteng highways is imminent, the transport department and the national roads agency warned on Sunday (26 May).

“There are a few steps left in this process, but the implementation of the e-toll system is well on its way,” SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) head Nazir Alli said in a statement issued with the transport department.

The e-tolls have been heavily criticised by a number of organisations, including the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu).

The Democratic Alliance (DA), said the e-toll issue would affect the African National Congress in the 2014 general elections.

“The e-tolls will be a fiercely-contested election issue that will cost the ANC badly.”

On Friday (24 May), draft regulations and notices were published in the Government Gazette detailing how the tolls will work. The regulations also proposed a reduction of a R550 cap by R100 per month to R450 for cars (Class A2).

Wayne Duvenage, chairperson of Outa, questioned how SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) arrived at its latest reduction proposal.