SHARON HAMMOND, Witbank | Sunday 7.00pm
OUTRAGED Mpumalanga motorists are dragging the operators of the R2-billion Maputo Toll Road to the Competitions Board and Constitutional Court in a desperate attempt to shut all three tollgates road down.
The N4 Road Users Association has lodged a complaint with the Competitions Board alleging that toll road operator, Trans Africa Concessions (TRAC), operates a monopoly and abuses its dominant position along the 400km N4 highway.
The Competition Board is scheduled to begin its investigation into the allegations of excessive toll fees on Monday.
The Association, which includes all major provincial business chambers and trade organisations, claims the high tolls are harming the provincial economy. A round trip from Johannesburg to beyond Malelane now costs a motorist an additional R142, while the drivers of extra heavy trucks have to pay an extra R729 for a round trip. The Association also argues that the toll gates have been placed at unreasonable points.
The Middelburg Plaza is situated between Middelburg and Witbank, on the route that local residents and business people regularly commute to work. The same applies for the Nkomazi Plaza, which has cut residents of the Onderberg off from schools and shopping centres in Nelspruit.
The Association is also determined to get an interim High Court interdict preventing toll fees being charged at the Machado and Nkomazi Plazas because they don’t have alternative routes.
“And where there is an alternative, the Court will be asked to set the tolls at acceptable and reasonable levels,” added Brandmuller. The Association further plans to take Trac to the Constitutional Court, claiming the toll fees violate certain human rights. African Eye News Service