The Amadiba Community presented a petition or people’s plan to the Portfolio Committee on Transport, requesting that the National Assembly investigate their concerns regarding the N2 Wild Coast Toll Highway Project (N2WCH).

The community is objecting to the South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited preferred route for the N2WCH.

In the petition noted by the transport committee on Thursday, the Amadiba Crisis Committee included their proposal to build the N2WCH road inland through the centre of Amadiba. The N2WCH is a proposed route between East London and Durban, of which 410km stretches between East London and the Mtamvuna River. The route runs within 2km of the coastline. 

They are disputing a small section of the route between Ndwalane and the Mtamvuma River.  

Malcom Campbell, Amadiba Crisis Committee urban development planner, requested a midterm evaluation of the N2WCH project because the Department of Transport, SANRAL, Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) and Treasury must consider a community-supported proposal which is:

• sustainable /developmentally inclusive 
• does less damage to the coastal environment and economy 
• it is more cost-effective to construct 
• functions to support not only national but also regional economic development objectives

Campbell said that the community in Amadiba believe that development is important for the area, and that improving road infrastructure is vital, particularly when it is integrated within the community connectivity requirements without listing the core values of a national highway.

According to Campbell, the petition emphasised four critical issues:

• The environmental and social impact research and assessments of the N2WCH, some twenty years ago, are now outdated considering new knowledge and experiences of road building in the Eastern Cape. 

• The community’s rights and voices have been overlooked, and the consequences of displacement, loss of livelihood, and cultural and heritage degradation will be immense and irreparable if the alignment is not changed.

• There has not been meaningful engagement by the respondents about the project for such consultation to comply with the relevant statutory and customary law, including the principle and process of free prior informed community consent. 
• The N2WCH in its current form is therefore not informed by coordinated development, which is informed by the spatial development planning processes, which emphasise local stakeholder input and inclusiveness. 

Johan Jonas, a town and regional planner, spoke of the critical biodiversity areas (CBA), which are classified as no-go zones for any form of development. Jonas said they were concerned that the new SANRAL route cuts through a large section of these sensitive zones.

The new route they propose will only cut through 6.5 % of the CBA.

Other concerns about the N2 route along the coastline were:

• Displacement of families and destruction of plus two thirds more homesteads

• Loss of agricultural land, grazing fields, and community livelihoods. Agriculture on the coast delivers sweet potatoes and amadumbe to Durban markets three times per year from hundreds of households, due to very good soil and plenty of water. 

• Desecration of ancestral graves 

• Increased poverty and social disintegration due to forced relocations 

• Continuing to disregard the Lurholweni township from prospects of future economic growth or integrating the township on a refurbished R61 

Selelo Selamolela (Chairperson) said the petition was noted, and it will be processed through the necessary parliamentary processes. Selamolela said the SANRAL team was in the meeting and a follow up meeting will be conducted to discuss the matter.

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za 

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