By Celani Sikhakhane
The community of the deep remote village of eSixeni in Hlabisa, in the north of KwaZulu-Natal, shared tears of joy after receiving news that a bridge will finally be built over a river that has for many years isolated them from the outside world.
At the best of times, the river is difficult to cross. However, when it’s full, it is almost impossible.
After rains, the village children can still spend days unable to reach their school. Emergency services such as ambulances and police are unable to reach the isolated community.
The local town is unreachable, and cars can’t come in or out of the village. Farmers often lose livestock trying to cross the river, and during the rains, loved ones can’t be buried because the closest cemetery lies on the other side of the river.
The local traditional leader, Induna Mthembeni Mhlongo, described eSixeni as a “cage” when the rain falls.
But the locals are now hopeful that those days will soon be in the past. Induna Mhlongo announced the construction of the new bridge on Tuesday during a community meeting.
At the meeting, he introduced the contractor of the bridge to the elated locals, who told them it would be constructed at the Mthunzi-Ngoqongo road.
“We are grateful that finally our plight has been addressed because today we are witnessing this historical announcement and we are seeing the contractor live in front of us. The community has suffered enough from this river,” Induna Mhlongo told Scrolla.Africa in an interview.
“We were happy when the gravel route called Mthunzi-Ngoqongo was built. Unfortunately, our joy didn’t last because the contractors never built a bridge that will help this road to be useful during the summer rains.”
The contractor, Sne Chamane, who was appointed by the Big Five Hlabisa Local Municipality, told community members that she would make sure that she built a state-of-the-art bridge.
She stated that due to technical issues related to the sourcing of materials, the bridge construction will officially take off in January.
The Big Five Hlabisa Mayor Comfort Khumalo said that the bridge will cost R3.9 million.
Pictured above: Community leaders of eSixeni village in KwaHlabisa.
Image source: Supplied
