Concerns mount over Wild Coast toll road

Johannesburg - The construction of the controversial N2 Wild Coast toll will come at a hefty cost, an environmental group warned on Wednesday.

The Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa (Wessa) said the construction of the road in the mountainous area would be costly as large bridges would be needed.

Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa this week reportedly approved the construction of the toll following years of opposition against it.

Wessa was one of the organisations that campaigned against it.

The KwaZulu-Natal government and the eThekwini Municipality also vehemently opposed it, arguing that its tolls would have a severe impact on motorists’ pockets.

According to Wessa, six toll plazas would be erected along the new road.

Two would be in KwaZulu-Natal and four in the Eastern Cape - and it was the commuters who would foot the bill.

Wessa has also accused Molewa of failing to recognise the importance of the biological diversity of the area where the road will be constructed.

The N2 Wild Coast toll road would run through the pristine and unique Pondoland, the organisation said.

Wessa manager Chris Galliers said he hoped Molewa would apply attention to the long-standing need for the area to attain some level of formal protection as identified in the National Protected Area Expansion Strategy.

He said the organisation was concerned about the change in the nature and social fabric of the area, which would last forever.

“This may very well take the ‘wild’ out of the 'Wild' Coast.”