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N4: Motorway Between Maputo and Ressano Garcia Border Faces Uncertain Future After Protest Losses

N4: Motorway Between Maputo and Ressano Garcia Border Faces Uncertain Future After Protest Losses

The concessionaire for the N4, Mozambique’s main motorway between Maputo and the Ressano Garcia border, acknowledged serious damage caused by the post-election protests and that the concession’s future after 2028 is uncertain.

“There was serious damage to the Maputo tolls during the political unrest over the last three months,” acknowledged an official source from Trans African Concessions (TRAC), when questioned by Lusa, stressing that the survey of damage will only be completed when the situation stabilises.

After several weeks without collecting tolls on the road due to the post-election protests, during which presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane called for non-payment, TRAC resumed collecting tolls on Thursday, which caused tension at the entrance to Maputo.

People even blocked the road, Maputo’s main entrance and exit – which is essential for shipping South African exports, especially minerals – using lorries, buses and barricades, which led the police to fire shots to disperse the protestors.

Meanwhile, Revimo, the concessionaire for most of the other toll roads in Mozambique, announced that it intends to resume toll collection on Monday, which was interrupted several weeks ago for the same reasons.

Despite some normality in the resumption of the Maputo toll on the N4, there are still episodes of motorists refusing to pay tolls and others forcing the gates to avoid paying.

The road linking Tshwane, Gauteng (South Africa), and the port of Maputo (Mozambique) is almost 100 kilometres long. It was built by TRAC under a 30-year concession involving the governments of both countries. The concessionaire assumed the costs of construction and maintenance, and after that, the road, which totals 570 kilometres, could revert to the respective states.

“The concession contract ends in February 2028. The governments of South Africa and Mozambique will then decide what will happen to the road,” an official company source told Lusa.

The same source also said that “there are several options” for the future, including the road agencies of the two countries (SANRAL and ANE) responsible for the concession contract “taking over the management of the road”, putting the concession contract “out to tender again”, and renewing or extending the current contract.

In December, the then-presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane called for tolls not to be paid throughout the country, and following the destruction and vandalisation of some toll booths, several were closed, including Revimo.

Meanwhile, in a document published last Tuesday with 30 measures he demands for the next 100 days, Venâncio Mondlane, who does not recognise the official results of the general elections on 9 October, once again called for tolls not to be charged throughout the country.

“On the N4, the tolls, given their lifespan, have been profitable concerning the investment made,” he says in the document, demanding the extension of the non-payment of tolls during this period, also claiming that on several toll roads in the country “there was no public consultation” on this charge and “the principle of the alternative route was not respected”.

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According to TRAC, the 1997 N4 concession contract was worth 3,000 million rands (€155.1 million at the current exchange rate), plus 1,000 million rands (€51.7 million) in ongoing works to improve and rehabilitate the entire road. It also included investment in routine maintenance of 200,000 rands (€10,350) per kilometre (over 570 kilometres), salaries for around 500 employees, and funding for local community projects in Mozambique and South Africa.

“TRAC’s private investment is huge. We are privately financed, and all the funds raised from tolls go directly back into the road,” concluded the same source.

Lusa

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