It has been reported that both the Cape Town City Council and Western Cape Provincial authorities have expressed their concern that their opposition to the tolling of the proposed N2 Winelands toll road has not been acknowledged or recognised by South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL).

We know that SANRAL is committed to trying to improve South Africa’s road network. We know too that of the R44 billion the government received in 2006 from road users, only R10.6 billion was spent by the state in 2004/05 on building and maintaining national and provincial roads.

SANRAL’s budget allocation for 2004 was R1.4 billion, hardly adequate to maintain, never mind improve the national road network. SANRAL therefore proposes to overcome its shortages of income through tolling.
Has the time not come for the government to revise its policy and provide funding for roads that the communities prioritize, so that we don’t get roads built because they can be profitable, often through the policy of “unsolicited bids”?

We now have the draft environmental impact report available for the controversial Wild Coast N2 toll road. Quite apart from the highly debatable merits and demerits of the SANRAL Greenfields route between Mthatha and Port Edward (more specifically, between Lusikisiki and Port Edward), the probable tolls listed in the report are as follows:

This means that in this highly impoverished area, a road which is meant to benefit the local people is going to cost at least R70 between Ntafufu and Port Edward. This road will further isolate the present commercial centres of Bizana, Flagstaff and Kokstad and will hardly benefit the people of that region. This is quite apart from the fact that the report concludes “the proposed new road is considered not ecologically sustainable”.
Surely it is time for the treasury to revise its position, communicating with local communities so that SA develops a road structure that not only takes in the needs of local communities, but recognises the constraints imposed by oil peak and climate change, all of which indicate the need for futuristic planning?
Yours sincerely,

Bishop Geoff Davies Executive Director (SAFCEI)

Posted on November 11th, 2008
Filed under: Letters