B Cele: Official opening of Thombothi Bridge

24 February 2009

Protocol observed

Our gathering here today for the opening of the bridge once again bears
testimony to our government’s commitment to ensure that we keep our
promises.

It is not surprising that our people who were previously disadvantaged are
now on record giving testimony that indeed, we do follow-up on our
commitments.

The bridge we are opening today is part of R1,5 billion that the Department
of Transport has invested in Zululand to deal with the road infrastructure
challenges.

We have injected cash in projects that include, among others, D1820, D487,
P700, P432, P235/ P49/ P52, P234, Umbhudula Road Qwasha River Road Bridge,
Mpembeni, Sikhwebezi Pedestrian Bridge, Thombothi River Bridge, Obivane River
Bridge, Wela River Bridge, KwaBhanya Vehicle Bridge, Intethe River Bridge and
Nsonyane Bridge.

Zululand is one of the areas in the province where people still travel
kilometres on foot to the nearest clinic, hospital, school, pension payout.
Therefore, we say as government we cannot allow a situation where teachers and
learners have to undress everyday to cross rivers to school.

But it is important to emphasise that as a democratically elected government
we have an obligation to serve our people irrespective of which political party
they belong to.

As a society, we are facing challenges such as crime, AIDS, poverty,
unemployment etc. These challenges can only be addressed under certain
circumstances which include peace, democracy and development. These are
preconditions of a better life for all. People must guard against being used by
politicians for their political gain.

The construction of a bridge and link road over the Black Mfolozi River for
the Xasane and Esizinda communities in the Mahlabathini district has had a
major impact on a large community on both sides of the river.

Our national government and provincial government have jointly embarked on
this project, and the construction work has seen an investment of more than R14
million in this area.

In line with our policy, most of the work was done by local labour using
small concrete mixers and hand tools were used to construct the concrete
paving, which resulted in a good finish to the riding surface.

We always say that during construction the cost must remain an economic
benefit to the local communities where contractors source all materials from
the area and employ all artisans and labour from the nearby communities. There
must be no political preferences in this regard. Apart from providing local job
opportunities, the project embraced community outreach initiatives, which
included amongst others career guidance at high schools. Civil engineering was
promoted to over 1 200 scholars at all nine high schools in the two local
tribal authorities, KwaNxasane and Sizinda.

It is true that the bridges both for vehicles and pedestrians are central to
the provision of access and the improvement of the quality of lives of our
people. Indeed in communities where these were constructed, people bear
testimony of how much improved their lives have been.

“Before the bridge was built, we had lost many lives due to the river. This
project benefits us as a community very much as it brings family members
together that have been separated by the river. Besides, we could not meet with
Esizinda community members and plan together for community development
projects. From our community point of view, this bridge has put the other
community on the map” Mr D Ntombela (Xasane community)

I conclusion, the figure for pedestrian bridges to be built in KwaZulu-Natal
has increased dramatically to more than 400. Unfortunately, the problem of
limited funding continues to face us, hence we are unable to deal with our
backlog as quickly and expediently as we would want to.

However, we know that some rich nations may have sophisticated transport
infrastructure that has landed people on the moon and yet our people are still
struggling to move from one village to the other, but we are very proud that
our goals are centred on the lives of our people.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Transport, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial
Government
24 February 2009