Wild Coast mega-bridges to cost you R3.1bn

The South African National Roads Agency is forging ahead with plans to build a tolled highway through the Wild Coast and claims to have the support of environmental lobby groups.

Sanral said this week that tenders to build two mega-bridges over spectacular gorges in a pristine wilderness area will close next month and be funded entirely by taxpayers.

Construction of the bridges to be built over the Mtentu and Msikaba rivers between Port Edward in KwaZulu-Natal and Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape will begin next year - despite the launch of court action challenging the plan.

Contractors are already building access roads - to be completed by May - to the bridges' construction sites. The contracts awarded to Aveng Grinaker-LTA and Wasserman Teerwerke include relocating "households and structures within the adjacent road reserve", Sanral spokesman Vusi Mona said this week.

The bridges will cost about R3.1-billion as part of the total R7.6-billion price tag "excluding contingencies" that Sanral has budgeted for a new 112km section of road.

The mega-bridges will be "fully funded from the fiscus". This means motorists will pay twice to cross the bridges - first through their taxes and again when charged toll fees.

Getting the National Treasury to pick up almost half the tab is likely to prove controversial.

Toll roads are often promoted as a way of relieving the Treasury of the burden of paying for the building and maintenance of national freeways by getting users to carry the cost. Gauteng's e-tolled freeways also received Treasury funding.

The new "greenfields" section of road will run from the Mzimvubu River near Port St Johns to the Mtamvuna River near Port Edward and will cross seven major river bridges.

It will link the existing N2 from East London with the N2 in KwaZulu-Natal.

Existing sections of the route will get upgrades and town bypasses, but only the new stretch will be tolled. Final positions of toll booths have not been decided.

Tenders for building the other sections of the new route will be advertised from the end of 2017.

"This will ensure that the completion of the roads will approximately coincide with the completion of the bridges," said Mona. The remaining R4.5-billion would be funded by both taxpayers and toll fees.

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Sanral said environmental groups had withdrawn their opposition asthe new route was "well inland" from the most environmentally sensitive areas.

But Mike Denison of the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa said this was a "bit of a tall claim".

He added: "It's a very hotly contested project." There was "mixed sentiment" among communities Wessa works with, especially in the Xolobeni area, where a controversial titanium mine is proposed.

"The mine and road aren't part of the same agenda but the road does make the mine more viable. It has the potential to release a bigger evil."

Wessa was initially opposed to the road but now "accepts" it as the route has been moved further inland from the Mkambati nature reserve and the project will bring a large investment in conservation efforts that "would probably lead to an expansion of protected areas".

Sustaining the Wild Coast, another lobby group, "absolutely opposes the present route, mainly because the community opposes it primarily because they see it enabling mining", said chairwoman Margie Pretorius.

"Also, it's too close to the coast and will open up that area to land grabbing and ribbon development. After a few years it's not going to be the Wild Coast any more."