Eastern Cape villagers wait years for road project

This road to serve villages outside Mthatha in the Eastern Cape was meant to be completed in March 2023. Photo: Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

• An 11km road meant to connect villages near Ngqeleni to Canzibe outside Mthatha, Eastern Cape, was supposed to be completed in March 2023, but it is still unfinished.
• Residents say the road is too narrow, slippery and dangerous in wet weather.
• The contractor left the project incomplete in 2024 according to residents, and the Nyandeni Municipality carried out repairs itself. But the road is still in a terrible state.

An 11km road to serve villages outside Mthatha in the Eastern Cape, meant to be completed in March 2023, is still unfinished and treacherous according to residents.

The road is meant to connect villages near Ngqeleni (in wards 23 and 28 of Nyandeni Local Municipality) to neighbouring villages and also to Canzibe Hospital.

In February 2022, the municipality appointed Batabile Construction Services to build the road and a bridge for over R37-million.

Residents said the contractor stopped work in 2024, promising to return, only to come back in June 2025 to fetch its equipment.

The municipality’s 2023/24 annual report lists the project as 98% complete. The municipality also lists the project as affected by poor contractor performance, and damaged by heavy rains.

The 2024/25 audited statements show about R38-million was spent on the Ntshazini road and bridge and noted “climate change and heavy rains (disaster)”.

GroundUp visited in April. It was raining, and the road, which has cement slabs rather than tar, was slippery. In several narrow sections, only one-way traffic was possible and there were no guardrails.

Our reporter returned in September, and the road was still incomplete. We noted that parts of the bridge were damaged and the road was cracking in places.

DA PR councillor Sithandiwe Mavume said, “At first, they said it would be handed over on 30 June 2024. That year passed and they said June 2025. Even this year we were expecting it to be finished, but the contractor is no longer on site.”

“At this point it is not clear when this road will be finished and handed over to people. Unfortunately, people are using it because it’s the only road,” he said.

“When we ask about what causes the delay, we get the same excuse that it’s because of bad weather conditions,” he said.

Mavume, who sits on the municipal public accounts committee (MPAC), told GroundUp that while they waited for the contractor to complete the project, heavy rains had damaged the bridge and gabions. The municipality then carried out repairs using its own resources.

Mavume said the road has not provided the relief residents had expected and the bridge cannot be crossed during heavy rains.

Chief Mfanelo Mnatule, whose jurisdiction covers all the villages under Mntsholobeni, said road users are concerned about the narrow width and that it is slippery and vehicles skid when it rains.

He said residents had expected the road to reach Ntshazini village but it starts 1.5km away.

The bridge shows signs of storm damage. Photo: Yamkela Ntshongwana

Zamekile Dyubhele from Ntshazini village said his wife was hospitalised after the driver of the vehicle she was travelling in lost control on the road in December 2024. He said other residents had suffered similar accidents on the road in the rain. We also spoke to another resident who had had a similar experience.

Dyubhele also raised concerns about the safety of the bridge. “The municipality only repaired it with soil and stones, leaving us worried about whether the bridge will withstand further flooding,” he said.

An MPAC inspection found that the road was five metres wide on the Ntshazini side and 4.5 metres on the Canzibe side as permission had not been granted by the provincial environmental affairs department for a wider road.

MPAC said gabions were needed on the Canzibe side to prevent erosion.

In early 2024, municipal officials assured the MPAC that the contractor would address defects before leaving the site and the project would be completed the following week. Despite this assurance, the MPAC recommended urgent intervention.

Municipal spokesperson Nolubabalo Mzini said she was waiting for the head of department to respond, but five months later, no response has been received.

Municipal manager Silulami Poswa has also not responded to GroundUp.

Calls to Batabile Construction Services went unanswered.

The road surface is slippery when wet according to residents. Photo: Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

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