New Swazi bypass will eliminate dangerous bottleneck

JAMES HALL MBABANE – Malagwane Hill, once mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most accident-prone stretch of road on the globe, may soon be avoidable by commercial road freight hauliers. Construction of the Mbabane Bypass Road is behind schedule and over budget, but the plans now available show the route will link the Western Mbabane suburbs with Ezulwini Valley to the east of the capital through an incline south of Malagwane Hill. Just as the steep, narrow and windy hill route is now the only way into and out of Mbabane from the Matsapha Industrial Estate and points east, congested downtown Mbabane cannot currently be avoided by traffic flowing through Western Swaziland. The Bypass Road was aimed at eliminating the downtown bottleneck, and now will cut additional travel minutes by skirting Malagwane. When finished, perhaps in 2008, the route will allow for unimpeded travel from the Oshoek Border Post, utilised by most traffic destined for or coming from Gauteng, to the central commercial town Manzini, on the eastern fringe of the Matsapha Industrial Estate. “Safety is the big plus here. Malagwane Hill is a death trap. At any hour, in any weather conditions, you find accidents. The grade requires large trucks to virtually crawl down the left lane, effectively blocking half the highway,” said the manager of one Matsapha-based trucking fleet. Eventually, the route will be a toll road. But enabling legislation is expected to be stalled at the Public Works Ministry for some time.