Cape Town - A footbridge, designed by a Cape Town engineering consultancy, is destined to make a huge difference in the lives of the villagers of Nelson Mandela’s Eastern Cape home town, Qunu.
It links one side of Qunu to the other, where residents had been cut off from one another by the N2 highway.
Residents say the days of villagers dicing with death are over. The elderly particularly were affected as many were too afraid to cross.
Nonyameko Balizulu, the niece of traditional Chief of Qunu Nokwanele Balizulu, said ever since she attended the funeral of a 16-year-old schoolgirl who was hit by a vehicle while crossing the N2, she had been afraid to cross.
“That was in 2005. The cars go too fast. They sound far away, but they’re actually close,” she said.
“It means schoolchildren can walk to school by themselves and without guides to help them cross the road. The cars didn’t only knock over people, but also dogs, sheep, horses, cows.”
She said the bridge would also mean their animals would be safer.
Patikile Holomisa, chairman of Contralesa (Congress of South African traditional leaders), is also pleased with the bridge.
“The elderly are too afraid of vehicles. This bridge will definitely make their lives easier,” he said.
From a distance, the footbridge, which is close to Mandela’s homestead, blends in with the rural landscape. It is designed to appear as though it’s part of a footpath that curls along the veld towards the highway, then starts again on the other side.
The traditional chief of several villages around Mthatha, about 30km from Qunu, Jonas Jongisizwe “J J” Ndzambule, has also watched the bridge being built. “It means Qunu is developing,” he said.
Engineering team member Rossouw Conradie said it was good to know people appreciated the bridge.
“The aim was to create a strong and aesthetically beautiful structure. The job was made easier by the strong soil and rock at the site.”
Conradie added that the bridge would be strong enough for livestock to cross.
A steel “cage” was yet to be added to the bridge’s framework to protect people and animals from falling off.
Another team member, Pierre van der Spuy, admired the lines of the bridge which, he said, “flow beautifully” and the end result was “really elegant”.
The footbridge is part of
a larger construction project taking place in a 20km radius of Qunu, managed by the South African Roads Agency.
The development includes double-lane carriageways on the N2 highway to replace the single lane road that dissects Qunu.
henriette.geldenhuys @inl.co.za
Weekend Argus