A Limpopo farmer has opened an alternative route through his property, allowing motorists to bypass a toll road. About 300 vehicles a day are now using his little road. What do you think of this action?
A Limpopo farmer has opened an alternative route through his property, allowing motorists to bypass a toll road. About 300 vehicles a day are now using his little road.
The newly opened Baobab Toll Plaza, between Musina and Makhado, is near to the game farmer’s property of game farmer Gideon Meiring.
reported that Meiring claimed to have opened the road as a form of protest against the commissioning of yet another tollgate.
The toll gate fees are R19, R48 and R67 for light, medium and heavy traffic respectively, while Meiring charges R5 for cars, R10 for medium vehicles and R20 for heavy vehicles.
“This is for maintenance. I opened an existing road, but had to upgrade it a bit for traffic use. At first, only local people and taxis used the road, but now, after the television coverage, we have had lots of vehicles coming though, at least 300 a day. We wet the road regularly to prevent dust,” Meiring told CARtoday.com.
Meiring and other concerned farmers met representatives of the National Road Agency on Friday to discuss problems with the tollgate.
“We discussed issues such as rebates for local people and frequent users. There will be a community meeting in Mopane on Tuesday where the NRA will talk to the local people, truckers and taxi operators about the tollroad. They need to explain why the tollgate is in place even though the road has not yet been completed,” said Meiring.
