The royal leadership of Pondoland has voiced community hopes that the N2 Wild Coast toll road project would unlock the potential of the beautiful region in the Eastern Cape and create jobs, the South African National Road Agency Limited (Sanral) said on Monday.
In a wrap of a week of outreaches, interactions with stakeholders and ministerial consultations for the project, Sanral quoted Eastern Pondoland King Zanozuko Sigcau and King Ndamase Ndamase of Western Pondoland expressing optimism about how the road would benefit the region and dismissing claims that locals were against it.
Pondoland incorporates the areas of Mbizana, Libode, Ngqeleni, Port St Johns, Tabankulu, and Umsikaba, the region through which the N2 Wild Coast toll road will run. The area is known for its astonishing natural beauty and preservation of traditional lifestyles, which many fear will be destroyed once it is easy for tourists to access.
King Sigcau was quoted as saying that good infrastructure would bring jobs and business opportunities and "make Pondoland accessible to South Africa and the world".
"The region can be stimulated through tourism, the establishment of a fisheries industry and marine economy, and we will be able to build more schools, for example," King Sigcau said. "Pondoland will be something else after this project."
King Ndamase is said to have described the project as "very important" and "something we need" and noted that there was a lot of untapped potential in Pondoland, giving agriculture as an example.
Commenting on claims about possible divisions within communities about the project, King Ndamase dismissed such views. "Sometimes, you will find that people don’t have the correct information. It is not that they are against this project," he said.
Transport Minister Dipuo Peters added: "This is a very important project, in particular for the community here, and for them to have access to services like health to be able to reach facilities and services to get help and to sustain their lives.
"But also," she said, "this is a beautiful part of our country to experience. The road will help us to unlock the tourism potential.
"For the people of Pondoland, this is your project, this is your development, this is the better life that Madiba actually promised. This is the step or beginning of working towards that better life for all," Peters concluded.
In addition to outreaches with traditional leadership in the region, Sanral said pre-qualified bidders had been taken on site visits to locations for the two mega-bridges across the Mtentu and Msikaba river gorges as part of preparation for submission of bids for the construction of the new architectural landmarks.
Sanral said it would appoint a contractor towards the end of the year, and construction would start in January next year. Construction of haul roads to the sites of the two mega-bridges is set to start in September.
During the week’s events, small and medium-sized businesses from the surrounding towns, communities and villages had also been given the chance to engage with Sanral and support agencies about opportunities that would be available to them as a result of construction of the N2 Wild Coast toll road.
The programme ended on Saturday with a ministerial event hosted by Peters, Sanral chief executive Nazir Alli and Eastern Cape Department of Roads and Public Works MEC Thandiswa Marawu. King Sigcau and King Ndamase were taken on a fly-over to give them an aerial perspective of the road.
The "greenfields" portion of the road entails a 112km stretch between Ndwalane outside Port St Johns and the Mtamvuna River between Mzamba and Port Edward. It will include nine major bridges, three interchange bridges and new roads. Construction on the greenfields portion is set to begin in the second half of 2018.
– African News Agency (ANA)
