Yesterday, there was a protest march in Cape Town’s CBD and people were seriously anticipating the worst. Roads and informal traders were shut down all the way through to Woodstock, just in case there was any rioting or violence. But it turned out to be pretty peaceful with only around 1 000 people presenting The City of Cape Town with a few demands – and suggestions.

Cosatu’s provincial general secretary Tony Ehrenreich seems to hold a lot of disregard for Cape Town’s white wealthy residents.

We want them to tax the people who live in Clifton and Sea Point.

But the whole march was actually to present a Memorandum for Integrated Public Transport that protested against the implementation of e-tolls on the N1 and N2.

We want to make sure that there’s an end to e-tolls, and we want a better public transport system. Some people spend half their wages from jobs just to get from the outskirts of the city to the city centre. And they didn’t choose to live there; they were forced there by apartheid.

Although hosted by Cosatu, the protest was made up of members from the National Union of Metalworkers (NUM), the South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) and members of the South African Students Congress (Sasco). It seems like the protest was used to voice various demands and opinions – which, according to The City of Cape Town, saw a turnaround by Tony.

In 2011, Tony actively encouraged the ANC twice to

to vote against the City’s intention at the time to declare an intergovernmental dispute against the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) and the National Ministers of Transport and Environmental Affairs about the Winelands Tolling Project.

But Tony seems to be missing the point entirely. Not only do his demands not make sense (the issue of transport efficiency lies outside the City’s responsibility), but he fails to acknowledge the important role that Cape Town’s wealthy residents play in the economy. And taxing them will only make them spend their money in other countries. Doos.

But hey, don’t fear Tony’s words – rather just check out these houses for sale on the Atlantic Seaboard and enjoy the lifestyle.

[source: timeslive]