Zandvlei Trust

Ring Road Forum to fight R300 Toll Road

Following a protest at Lakeside organised by the Zandvlei Trust and the Zeekoevlei Environmental Forum which collected 527 signatures on the register of objectors and too many supporting hoots from passing motorists to count, the Ring Road Forum was established to co-ordinate the widespread public opposition to the proposed tolling of the N21 (R300) Ring Road via environmental NGOs, representative civic groups and concerned individuals along the proposed route.

The N21 (R300) Ring Road began as an unsolicited proposal by Penway, a private consortium consisting of major consultancies, construction companies and black empowerment groups including Price Waterhouse Coopers, Murray and Roberts, African Renaissance and Tolcon. They propose to build a six-lane tolled expressway from Blaauwberg in the north, through the farmlands north of Durbanville, connecting with the existing R300 (a Provincial road paid for with taxpayers money) east of Durbanville.The R300 presently links the N1 to the N2 east of the airport and services large numbers of commuters from Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain, Mandalay, Philippi East, Delft, Blue Downs, Silversands, Belhar, Nooiensfontein and Diepwater. The ring road would then continue west via two routes; first through the Cape Flats market garden area, Grassy Park and Prince George's Drive and second, via Strandfontein and Zeekoevlei to Prince George's Drive and through to link up with the Blue Route at the Westlake interchange.

If the R300/N21 is approved, the knock-on effect of the toll road will be an increase in transport costs which would be passed on to both the commuter and the consumer. Even if you didn't use the road, the price of goods would go up as delivery vehicles would have to pay to use the toll. This is especially true as the developers envision that there will be more toll plazas along the route than usual. In addition, this road would take away passing trade from many businesses along its route. Moreover, far from alleviating traffic congestion, there will be more traffic on secondary roads as motorists try to avoid paying a toll.

The environmental impact of the tolled ring road threatens market gardeners in Philippi and major tourist attractions on the Cape Flats; the False Bay Ecology Park, Zeekoevlei and Rondevlei Nature Reserves and their environmental education centres, The Greater Zandvlei Estuary Nature Reserve and its Environmental Education Centre, the bird population of the Strandfontein Sewerage Works which is the fifth most important wetland bird habitat in Southern Africa, as well as the wetlands north of Zandvlei, False Bay's only estuary and an important contributor to the fishing stocks of False Bay. It also threatens Westlake wetland, another Category B wetland of high importance. South Africa is a dry country and is set to run out of water by 2030 if we don't conserve the water we have. "According to John Dini of the National Botanical Institute of South Africa, between 35% and 60% of South Africa's wetlands have been destroyed over the past 40 years." 

The Wellington Road interchange in Durbanville has at least eight listed or proposed Red Data Book species. The habitat (Boland Renosterveld) is now so rare that the loss of this site would have a significant negative impact on the global conservation status of this habitat and its associated plants. According to the internationally acclaimed C.A.P.E project, this habitat is 100% irreplaceable and 100% vulnerable, which effectively means that ALL examples of the habitat should be conserved. 

The Ring Road Forum's goal is to enlighten the population of Cape Town about the effects of this tolled expressway and encourage them to object to the findings of the Environmental Impact Assessment report so that the unsolicited bid is not approved by the City of Cape Town, the provincial Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA&DP) and the national Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.