Calls for toll fee exemption

The Mzimkhulu River Bridge in Port Shepstone will be closed for at least six months to allow for emergency repairs.

At a meeting held at Ray Nkonyeni Municipality (RNM) council chambers last week, councillors, ratepayers’ associations and the South African National Taxi Council called for the exemption of toll fees for motorists at the ramps at Marburg.

“We have written to the Department of Transport (DOT) to negotiate with the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) for a concession on tolls to allow motorists to use the N2 without being penalised,” said DA caucus leader and Ward 12 councillor Leon Garbade.

Also, Siboniso Duma, the MEC for Transport and Human Settlements in KwaZulu-Natal, has applied to the Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, for an exemption on toll fees at the onramp and offramp at Marburg. The main line from north to south will not be exempted.

The exemption can only be approved by Creecy.

The traffic volume on Batstone’s Drift was high on Wednesday, and many motorists shared similar sentiments on the toll fee exemption.

“Paying toll fees four times a day just to drop off and pick up my children from school is going to cost about R80 a day. We will appreciate it if the minister gives South Coast residents the exemption,” said Sibonelo Hlophe of Umtentweni.

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