President Cyril Ramaphosa has opened a Bailey steel bridge that the defense force has built in the remote Ngilanyoni area of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.
The bridge is one of 96 the SANDF are building in six provinces during the current financial year to make rural areas more accessible. Although the Ngilanyoni area is just over 50 kilometres from Camperdown, it takes more than 90 minutes to drive that distance over rugged terrain.
Ramaphosa says this bridge will give communities, who previously had to drive through the river or cross it on foot, all-weather access to schools and other facilities.
Ramaphosa lauded the SANDF for its expertise.
“The capability of our South African National Defense Force, they are also trained to advance the lives of South Africans on important issues such as social infrastructure but more importantly that they have the capability to go into the rural areas of our country bayokwakha amabhuloho so as to enable our people to go around. General [ Rudzani] Maphwanya, I must say I congratulate the South African National Defense Force for the excellent work that I saw, I saw a well-constructed bridge.”
Gallery of opening of the bridge:
Pics by GCIS
