Group demands N2 toll action

Campaign takes fight to the politicians
March 24, 2009 Edition 2

Barbara Cole

SOUTH Coast campaigners are keeping up their fight against the controversial proposal to toll the N2 – and now they want the politicians to be aware of the public outrage.

Although the deadline for public submissions has already run out, members of the Upper South Coast Toll Alliance (Uscata) say that the thousands of local objections stand to be “buried” in the dossier that will be sent by the environmental consultants to the Minister of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.

“And many of our local and provincial decision-makers, councillors and politicians will never get to see the truth of how this injustice, planned by the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral), will impact on our area,” said Ted Holden, the Uscata chairman.

An invitation-only forum is to be convened in Amanzimtoti on April 6 to spell out exactly how the tolling scheme will damage the region’s businesses and affect private commuters and organisations.

Invited political parties will be told that businesses and the community “are expecting more than just talk about no more toll roads in KZN – we want action”, said Holden.

Amanzimtoti has already been the scene of public meetings where tempers flared at the idea of tolling.

Both the eThekwini Municipality and the KZN provincial government oppose the proposals.

A big business consortium has said it will be “seriously affected” and that members are concerned about the social and economic impact on businesses, employees and residents if the plan is to go ahead.

The proposed new toll road would extend about 560km on the N2 between Gonubie in the East London area to the N2 Isipingo Interchange, south of Durban. The plan envisages main toll plazas at Park Rynie and Isipingo, with ramp plazas at Joyner Road, Prospecton, and Moss Kolnick Road, Amanzimtoti, as well as Adams Road, Amanzimtoti.

Robbery

The anti-toll campaigners say it is “highway robbery” that they will have to pay for 86 percent of the cost of the new 90km section further south, which they will never use.

“This plan of Sanral is only going to be viable if people in the Amanzimtoti area pay for it. It is totally immoral,” said Holden, who has invited representatives of churches, retirement complexes, schools, welfare organisations, taxi associations, traditional leaders, ratepayer organisations, small businesses and hospitality groups to spell out their concerns as well.

City manager Dr Michael Sutcliffe will also be invited.

On the issue of the plans to demolish the network of toll-collection plazas in the country over the next three years – where motorists will be charged automatically via an electronic scanning system which detects transponder chips fitted to windscreens – Holden said that the plan had to first get the permission of the municipalities for it to work.

Similar, non-stop tolling systems are already in place in several cities and countries around the world.

Holden said he was against any type of tolling.

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