Thousands gather to protest over toll roads and labour brokering

(7 Mar 2012) SHOTLIST 1. Wide of protesters gathered in street ahead of their march 2. Protester blowing a horn 3. Protesters with banners reading (English) "Tolling Gauteng Highways Must Be Scrapped" 4. Wide of protest 5. Zoom-in to protester holding poster reading (English) "Tolling Gauteng Highways Must Be Scrapped" 6. Various of protesters dancing and singing 7. SOUNDBITE (English) Vox pop, Loiiso Sixaba, protester: "Basically, the march is about two issues, labour broking and the e-tolling system on the N1 highway. I am here specifically for the e-tolling system because I use that route, I live in Pretoria and I work here in Johannesburg and I use that route every single day. The fact that I have to pay to come to work as well as pay a high tax rate on top of that, I find it absolutely ridiculous." 8. SOUNDBITE (English) Vox pop, Peter Rolf, protester: "Well, for me, the last straw is the e-tolling. For me, the government can't seem to spend the money that it's got, so it needs to generate more revenue. I think that rather than generate extra revenue, they should spend the money more efficiently. So I am here supporting everyone else and hopefully they will change the mind of the governments of the future." 9. SOUNDBITE (English) Vox pop, Buyi Hlabano, protester: "I work in Jo'burg, I pass four of the e-tolls every day and to be honest I just cannot afford those, so I am here to make my mark. Scrap them." 10. Banner reading (English) "Middle class over taxed. Life unaffordable." 11. Police and protesters 12. Protesters hitting road with sticks 13. Protesters on road singing 14. Pull-out from poster reading (English) "No to open road tolling systems!", pull out to wide of protest STORYLINE: Thousands of South African union members descended on Johannesburg's business district on Wednesday in a mass protest against new road tolls and labour brokering. The Congress of South African Trade Unions, known as COSATU, cited the two reasons for marches in Johannesburg, Cape Town and other towns and cities that are expected to draw tens of thousands. Support from across the political, racial and economic spectrum has emerged for one of the goals, getting the government led by the African National Congress (ANC), usually COSATU's ally, to scrap planned tolls to pay for road upgrades in the Johannesburg area. COSATU says that will make life more expensive for the working class. Middle class drivers also have complained, and business is opposed to any rise in transport costs. The main opposition Democratic Alliance party has vowed to challenge the tolling plan in court. COSATU also wants the government to ban companies that supply temporary workers, a goal that appeals to a narrower audience. It says so-called labour brokers keep businesses from creating secure, well-paying jobs. Business groups have argued that instead of banning labour brokers, COSATU should work with them and the government to better regulate them. Officially, a quarter of South Africa's labour force is out of work, but experts say the percentage would be higher if the discouraged and the underemployed were counted. The marches, coming before an ANC policy making conference in June and another meeting in December to elect top party leaders, could be seen as an attempt by COSATU to influence the ANC's course. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...