Wednesday, January 31, 2024 – President Cyril Ramaphosa will receive a report on Wednesday on the presidential bridge construction programme that the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government believes will assist in accelerating the transformation of the province’s rural areas into developed towns.
Ramaphosa, who in recent months has been traversing the
province, will preside over the handing over of a bridge to the Ngilonyini
community in the Mkhambathini Municipality, outside Pietermaritzburg.
The bridge forms part of the Presidential Welisizwe rural
bridge programme announced by Ramaphosa during his 2023 State of the Nation
Address (Sona).
Ramaphosa had then indicated that the programme would result
in the construction of 96 bridges across the country, with KZN getting 22 of
the bridges.
“R3,3 billion has been allocated for this task. In
KwaZulu-Natal, 11 of the 22 Welisizwe rural bridges are complete while 11 are
still under construction,” said the Presidency said in a statement.
Many KZN communities continue to struggle to access health
facilities and schools due to the lack of bridges, particularly during the
rainy season. Ramaphosa will use the handover ceremony to assess how the bridge
construction programme was impacting the lives of the Ngilinyoni community.
He will be able to engage and give progress on the work
government is doing to eliminate infrastructure backlogs in rural areas and
ensure easy and safe access to opportunities, especially in rural communities
“Welisizwe
bridges are living examples of integrated service delivery and the president
will also use the occasion to promote public participation in line with the
District Development Model (DDM)” the Presidency said.
Ramaphosa’s visit to the Mkhambathini Municipality comes a
few days after his trip to the headquarters of the Nazareth Baptist Church in
Inanda north of Durban where he promised the church’s followers 1 000
houses.
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