TEKWANE SOUTH – They heavily rely on this bridge that connects KaNyamazane, Tekwane South and Mbombela.
Initially, when the contract to rebuild the bridge was awarded, the government gave the contractor six months to finish it, but it took the contractor a month to complete excavations and to lay the foundation and another month for concrete work.
The Tekwane South Bridge on the D2296 made news headlines in February 2021 after it had collapsed due to the heavy rainfall as a result of Tropical Storm Eloise.
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A delegation led by President Cyril Ramaphosa and Premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane visited the bridge and promised it would be repaired. A black-owned local company, Ntlemo Projects, was given the responsibility of reconstructing the bridge from scratch.
“We were given this task, which seemed impossible in the eyes of many. I am happy and proud to say that we have achieved a milestone here and in record time,” said the contracts manager of Ntlemo Projects, Luncedo Lunika, when Mpumalanga News visited the site. “ The rain directly affected construction work due to the nature of the project itself, but we took it upon ourselves to achieve this milestone and make it work. We experienced delays as the bridge links four wards, and all four had to establish project steering committees, select the correct local subcontractors and also source the services of 100% local labourers. This process on its own took longer than anticipated, but it was resolved,” added Lunika.
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He said the amount of rainfall experienced in the beginning of January made their work tough. “We were still at the critical stage of the bridge structure that was the foundation, but we soldiered on. We would like people to also know that the project is not finished yet; we have just completed the bridge structure. There is still a lot of work to be done, including wing walls, roadworks and more bridge cosmetic work,” he continued. “We would like to thank the Department of Public Works for trusting us, a small entity, with such a big task. We are grateful for the support from Afrisa, the consulting engineers who are the client’s representative on-site, affected communities and respective leadership, and local business companies for such commitment and dedication. Lastly, we thank Ntlemo Projects’ technical team who are black youths who have made this milestone a success.”
