Controversy still surrounds final leg,
writes James Hall
TRANS AFRICA Concessions, the French consortium currently building a highway connecting Maputo with Witbank, has announced tolls for vehicles using the tollgate at Moamba.
This is Mozambique's first tollgate, located 60 km north-west of Maputo. It opened this week. The route already has three tollgates functioning in South Africa. The fifth and last awaits construction in Mozambique.
At Moamba, heavy trucks with five or more axles pay 242 000 meticais (approximately R114).
Trucks with three or four axles are required to pay 162 000 meticais (R76).
Two-axle small trucks pay 81 000 meticais (R38)
Light vehicles are charged 33 000 meticais (R15).
Residents of the Moamba district pay a discount toll. A cheaper rate is also offered to passenger vehicles travelling the Maputo-South Africa route as part of a strategy to encourage usage of the new highway, which is being developed as part of the Lubombo Spatial Development Initiative entered into by South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland. The Witbank-Maputo highway bypasses Swaziland, however.
Trans Africa Concessions is noncommittal concerning the date when the fifth and final tollgate will be opened. Its planned location, at Matola closer to Maputo, has raised a storm of controversy. Matola commuters headed to and from the capital are irked that they will have to pay a toll, despite likely discounts to be offered them.
The Maputo City Council has also weighed in, and told the construction company that the tollgate must be located on the west side of Matola, at the final segment of new highway. The pre-existent highway from Matola to Maputo is decades old, and is being upgraded rather than being replaced. Thus far, the construction firm has resisted the move.
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