Western Cape slams Sanral's toll proposals

Anti-toll campaigning has moved to the Western Cape following the announcement by the South African National Roads Agency Ltd (Sanral) that it intends to take steps to implement the N1/N2 Toll Highway Project. Sanral has given the City of Cape Town 45 days’ notice before the project kicks off. The tolling of the N1 and N2 through the Western Cape winelands will have a major economic impact not just on the province but on South Africa as a whole, says Brett Herron, Cape Town mayoral committee for transport member. He told FTW the macro economic impact of the N1/ N2 Winelands Toll Highway Project should not be underestimated. “It is going to affect the cost of goods and the cost of transport which will have a macro-economic impact,” he said. And this is despite an undertaking from Sanral that it would not proceed with the project until a full review had been undertaken. “We have been involved with Sanral and this project since 2011 when we launched an urgent court interdict to stop them from implementing the toll until a full review had been undertaken,” he said. Legal action in this regard is still ongoing, but it now seems that Sanral is no longer adhering to the agreement reached in March 2012, he said. “By our calculations they plan to proceed with the toll project around April 20 which is 45 days from the date we received the notification.” Herron said they had already met with their legal council and the Judge President in the Western Cape to take the matter up. “We have never been opposed to tolling, but we are of the opinion that it is necessary to have an open and transparent process so that no irreversible decisions are taken. If the Gauteng tolling saga taught the country anything it was that one should make sure all the consultative processes have been addressed and that all the role-players involved are on the same page.” Herron said this was not the case at present and they would also try to get the court to compel Sanral to hand over all the information they had. Sanral has already identified the preferred bidder that will be the concessionaire for some 30 years of the planned toll project. Sanral spokesman Vusi Mona last week said they had no intention of concluding the concession contract on or around April 20. “The negotiations for such contracts are timeconsuming and lengthy processes,” he told FTW. “We have, however, notified the city of our intention to start negotiating, without further delay, with the preferred bidder, and if necessary, the reserve bidder, for the purpose of concluding a concession contract and securing funding for the project.” Western Cape MEC Robin Carlisle last week said the province was completely unaware of what they were getting, what costs were involved or when the project would kick off. While it remains uncertain exactly what Sanral is including in this project at present, previous plans included the completion of a second tunnel at the Huguenot Tunnel, a tunnel underneath Sir Lowry’s Pass on the N2, and a bypass connecting Strand to the N2 with several toll gantries along the N1 a nd N2. Said Herron, “There is just too much uncertainty and not enough transparency around this project.” INSERT ‘The province is completely unaware of what they are getting, what costs are involved or when the project will kick off.’