The protest was organised by the Freedom Front Plus, the
National Taxpayers' Union, the SA Caravan Association
and various motorbike clubs.
Johann van der Merwe, also known as ‘Mal Jan’, from Jacaranda
94.2's breakfast show, arrived at the garage on the highway in Centurion
dressed in Saudi Arabian attire riding the camel.
He said he had heard about the caravans coming and brought his
camel for water, but did not know what the protest was about.
Police were on hand to escort the convoy down the highway
towards Johannesburg. The protest
was expected to start at 7am, and
interrupt peak hour traffic.
FF Plus spokesman Anton Alberts on Thursday morning said the
idea behind the protest was to make sure that a "certain section" of
the population was heard, not just the Congress of SA Trade Unions.
"There are certain organisations and sections of the
population who are still unhappy with the tolling system and we also want to
encourage other sections of the population, other political parties and civil
organisations to come out and hold various actions on their own," he said.
"Collectively these actions send a very strong message to
Parliament and government that this system is immoral and unacceptable."
Alberts said it imposed an additional tax on people, who could
not afford it anymore.
"People pay enough taxes. If you see how much taxes are
wasted because of corruption, we are talking about R20 billion a year. If
that problem is tackled in a very extensive and comprehensive manner, that
saving could have paid for these roads, and they wouldn't need to impose a new
tax."
Alberts said it was the start of a series of protests which
would happen throughout April.
He said only two caravans would be used during the protest
because they didn't want to obstruct traffic too much.