Swaziland considers toll roads to raise revenue

James Hall
MBABANE - Following the examples of South Africa and Mozambique, which surround landlocked Swaziland, the country is set to transform some existing and new highways of its road system into toll roads.
As a first step, the Ministry of Works and Construction has revealed the findings of a study "conducted to establish the feasibility of tolling roads in Swaziland, as a possible means of raising revenue for national road maintenance," according to Evart Madlopha, principal secretary for the ministry.
Stakeholders met last week to discuss the studyÕs findings, and deliberate on the prospect of toll roads in Swaziland," said Madlopha.
All four petroleum companies in the kingdom, road transport companies, Swaziland Railway, the Inter-State Transport Association, businesses, government and consumer groups were among those invited to the meeting at the Royal Swazi Sun Convention Centre in Ezulwini.
A likely candidate for tolling is the main national highway connecting the capital Mbabane with the commercial hub city Manzini, which passes through the Matsapha Industrial Estate where the freight haulage companies are headquartered and the Matsapha Inland Freight Depot is located. A new highway connecting Mbabane to the southern town Nhlangano, where a new industrial estate is under development, is another likely route to become a toll road.