KZN Cabinet to fight N2 toll road plan

KZN Cabinet to fight N2 toll road plan
Published in: Legalbrief Environmental
Date: Tue 14 December 2010
Category: Litigation
Issue No: 0193

<i>The KZN Cabinet will go to court to block the N2 Wild Coast toll road because the plan is 'not in the interests of the people of KZN', notes a report in The Mercury.</i>

The Cabinet has vowed to 'vehemently' oppose the plan which has twice been approved by the Environmental Affairs Department amid strong protests. Groups have appealed against the environmental impact assessment (EIA) approval process over the past few months after the toll project was approved by the department for the second time earlier this year. 

The report quotes Premier Zweli Mkhize as saying: 'We are going to write to the Transport Minister to voice our strongest opposition. We are prepared to go to court on this one. We are in full support of the upgrading of the N2 going to the Eastern Cape. Our principle is simple: the toll should be for those receiving the service. 

This development is not in the interests of the people of KZN.' According to the report, the Cabinet said its opposition to the proposal was based on the fact that the plan would introduce a major new toll plaza near eManzimtoti, raising the cost of commuting and doing business in the southern part of Durban. 

Critics have argued that the toll gate would generate the lion's share of funds along the Durban to East London route, effectively subsidising the cost of building bridges across the deep river valleys of the Eastern Cape.

Full report in  The Mercury