The Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) labour intensive approach was utilised to link the village of Ngcingcinikhwe to Evontini and the world. This programme is coordinated by the Eastern Cape, Department of Public Works.
The project to create an access road between the two villages generated 111 local employment opportunities. Ngcingcinikhwe is located in the Mnquma local municipality, approximately 54 kilometres from Butterworth close to the confluence of the Tsomo and Kei Rivers in the former Transkei.
In his biography, Long Walk to Freedom, former South African President Nelson Mandela describes the Transkei, the land of his birth as follows:
“The Transkei is 800 miles east of Cape Town, 550 miles south of Johannesburg, and lies between the Kei River and the KwaZulu-Natal border, between the rugged Drakensberg Mountains to the north and the blue waters of the Indian Ocean to the east. It is a beautiful county of rolling hills, fertile valleys, and a thousand rivers and streams which keep the landscape green even in winter”.
Today, the Ngcingcinikhwe access road is the only road providing access to and from the Ngcingcinikhwe village on the banks of the Kei River. Before construction of the access road, the sick and elderly were carried by wheelbarrow or donkey up a steep footpath to Evontini village, approximately two kilometres away, from where public transport and emergency vehicles were accessible.
The project which started in July 2008 and completed in June 2009 was recently visited by members of national Portfolio Committee on Public Works from Parliament in Cape Town. The objectives of the visit were to visit EPWP in the Eastern Cape and to meet with project beneficiaries.
Several relevant departmental officials accompanied the members of the portfolio committee. Committee chairperson Godfrey Oliphant expressed the committee’s satisfaction with the successful completion of the project.
“For the first time the people of these two villages became part of the modern world with the completion of this road project. This constitutes an opportunity for celebration, because this project bears testimony of our government’s commitment towards rural development. Allow me to commend the Department’s of Public Works, Roads and Transport and the project leader Ingwenya Engineers for a job well done”.
According to Tembile Sizane, who is part and parcel of the community of Ngcingcinikhwe for the last 50 years, the decision “to build the road brought transformation and change into our lives. It made us happy and it is a clear indication that our government is really a caring government”.
Neil Mcllroy of Ingwenya Engineers said the Department of Roads and Transport approached them to investigate the possibility of a cost effective option for providing access to Ngcingcinikhwe.
“The project entailed the construction of 1.1 kilometres of surfaced access road using labour intensive construction methods. A stone masonry wall, 250 metres long and an average of 1.5 metres high, was constructed using local stone, on the very steep cross slope, behind which the road platform was constructed. Concrete surfacing three metres wide and 100 millimetres thick was constructed using the ‘multi-cell’ continuous flexible interlocking block paving system. Water for mixing was hauled by hand in 20 litre containers for up to one kilometre in some, sections of the road.
“Side formwork, using steel channels set to level, had to the dual purpose of controlling final trimming of the earthworks and the finished road levels. An edge thickening was used to prevent damage”.
A total number of 111 people were employed, of which 35 and 20 were youth and females respectively. The total project cost, including the causeway was R3.17 million.
Issued by: Department of Public Works, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
17 February 2010
Source: Department of Public Works, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
(http://dpw.ecprov.gov.za/)
