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The Democratic Alliance (DA) celebrates a long-overdue breakthrough for the people of Welakabini and Esihlahleni, as the Tebetebe bridge is at last handed over. This marks the end point of a six-year fight that began with nothing more than a crumbling suspension bridge, a determined community, and a councillor who refused to walk away.
The persistence of DA Cllr Nozi Mantshongo — her willingness to walk that bridge with residents, to sit in countless meetings, to write letter after letter when officials ignored her — is what carried this battle forward. She stayed with the community through every setback, every empty promise, every drowning that should never have happened. Today’s achievement is a testament to her grit and her loyalty to the people she serves. We honour her for it.
- Minister Dean Macpherson opening the bridge
- The crumbling suspension bridge
- Minister Macpherson and Bax Nodada in front of the new bridge
As part of this long battle, I consistently raised the Tebetebe crisis in Parliament through member’s statements, petitions, formal correspondence and follow-up questions to ministers. These interventions ensured that national government could not ignore what was happening in Ward 6 and helped force the eventual commitment to include the bridge in the Welisizwe programme.
We also extend our thanks to the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, whose intervention ensured that the project did not stall indefinitely, as so many rural infrastructure projects do. The Tebetebe bridge and the additional crossing points finally moved from paperwork to construction and, ultimately, to completion — handed over today by Minister Dean Macpherson.
This bridge changes the texture of daily life for the residents who have crossed the Umzimvubu River at their own risk for more than twenty years. Children will reach school safely. Families will get to clinics without gambling with their lives. Farmers, workers, and small businesses will have predictable access to the rest of the region. And no one will again be forced to carry coffins through floodwaters because the state failed to provide a safe crossing.
This outcome was earned through pressure, protest, persistence, and a refusal to accept that rural communities must simply endure danger as a fact of life. It shows what can happen when a councillor truly fights for her people, and when government acts instead of making excuses.
Today, at Tebetebe, dignity is restored and a community can finally breathe.