South African trade unionists protest road tolls

Thousands of South African trade unionists have marched in a day of protest over the new tolls on roads linking Johannesburg to the administrative capital Pretoria. The marches, organized by Congress of South African Trade Unions, took place in 32 towns and cities across South Africa. The protesters are also voicing anger over low wages and short-term employment contracts. According to South Africa’s Labor Federation, the proposed system will hurt the poor. “The tolls will put a burden on the poor,” the federation’s secretary general, Zwelinzima Vavi, told reporters ahead of the marches. The South African government upgraded motorways in and around the city of Johannesburg for the 2010 Football World Cup. The introduction of the tolls has already been delayed several times, after companies warned the fees would raise the cost of doing business. It says the work was not free, and it now wants the electronic tolling system to retrospectively finance these wide and smooth roads.