‘Zuma Bridge’ connects SA and Mozambique

China Road and Bridge Corporation has built a bridge between KZN town Kosi Bay and Mozambique that is expected to reduce travel between South Africa and the country’s capital, Maputo, from six hours to 90 minutes.

At its launch, KZN ANC chairperson and the province’s economic development MEC, Sihle Zikalala hailed the bridge as a victory for African integration and said it will boost the economy and create jobs.

But while the bridge was built by the Chinese, radical self-described “revolutionary socialist political party” Black First Land First (BLF) issued a statement saying that it was former president Jacob Zuma who should take credit for it.

Calling it the “Zuma Bridge”, the party said that efforts made by Zuma via the Bi-National Commission (BNC), which they said were unprecedented for a South African president, somehow led to the bridge.

They say this was through “a number [of] bilateral agreements being concluded including a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on transport, tourism, communications, maritime security cooperation, and frequency bands”.

The statement read: “President Zuma’s efforts [have] again born beautiful fruit via the various MoUs, especially on transport. In this context, the opening of Africa’s longest suspension bridge stretching from Catembe to Maputo and the new interlinked road which runs between Kosi Bay in KwaZulu Natal and Maputo is warmly welcomed and applauded.

“What used to be a four to six hours drive from South Africa to Mozambique has been shortened to a 90 minutes journey via the two roads which interlink with the great Zuma suspension bridge.”

Like many BLF statements, this one does not shy away from blurring the lines between fact and fiction, seemingly creating a link between Zuma’s role in the bridge and his removal as president.

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After tenuously linking Zuma to the bridge, the party said that the International Monetary Fund (IMF), who they said “furthers the agenda of western imperialism in cahoots with settler white monopoly capital”, suspended its program with Mozambique and that Zuma’s removal was as a result of him being “problematic to white capital in that he was too close to BRICS which poses a serious threat to western dominance over the world”.

“He was subsequently removed from power via a Brazilian-like coup and replaced by the imperialist puppet, Cyril Ramaphosa,” the statement continued.

The bridge between SA and Mozambique may boast the ability to reduce travel times between the two countries, but it’s not the most impressive bridge built by China Road and Bridge Corporation and unveiled over the weekend.

The company also revealed the longest suspension bridge in Africa on Saturday. It took four years to complete and cost over R11 billion.

The Maputo-Katembe bridge will link the north and south banks of Maputo.

The bridge was unveiled by president Filipe Nyusi who described China as a “brother and friend” to his country.

Nyusi said at a rally following the bridge’s inauguration: “Today is a unique day of our history, the achievement of the dream of [former Mozambiquan president] Samora Machel.

“With the completion of this bridge… the connection of southern Africa to the north over land and across our country is guaranteed.”

The twin-tower suspension bridge stands 141 metres above Maputo Bay, is 680 metres long and joins the city centre to the outlying district of Katembe.

(Additional reporting by AFP)

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