Broken Promises: Lack of Local Employment in Construction Project

Ntombifuthi Buthelezi

An ongoing construction project for a bridge that connects Chartworth and uMlazi E-Section, which was washed away by floods.

Image credit: Ntombifuthi Buthelezi

Floods in 2021 damaged a lot of infrastructures in South Africa, including a bridge that starts from Chatsworth to section E in uMlazi. The lives of community members were left to be miserable, as they had to find alternative ways of crossing uMlazi River.

Residents in uMlazi complain of not being employed in construction projects that fix bridges. It has been more than three years since different construction companies arrived in the area without including residents in the project.

Some community residents then came up with the idea of using cold rooms! to help people cross the river.

 Sibusiso Ngubane, one of the residents who helps people cross the river, said that he and his friends would use the cold rooms remains when fishing but then due to the collapse of the bridge and seeing that community members were struggling to cross the river, they came up with the idea of using these remains to help people cross the river, thus creating job opportunities for themselves.

“ At first people didn’t trust us, they were scared to use our boats so they ended up crossing the river by themselves and a lot of them didn’t make it to the other side of the river. This is because the river is very deep and may be seen like it’s not deep but when you get inside it, that’s  when you realise that it is deep.”

“We make little money out of this, that’s why we insist on being employed in the process of building the bridge; how come they employ foreigners and people who are not from uMlazi,” he said.

Local resident Zamani Hlongwane said that they have accepted  a long time ago that they wouldn’t be employed in local construction projects like building bridges, as the councillor knows about their unemployment struggles.

“As we are fighting to be employed in the meantime, we would like to people who will sponsor us with jackets and body lotions because as we are always inside the water, we catch water coldness and become sick and also our skin gets dry so we will appreciate if we can get people who will meet us halfway,” he said.

Community member Khulekani Xulu said that they encounter a lot of challenges when helping people cross the river. He adds that sometimes, they come across dead bodies where they are forced to take them out of the water and call the police.

“ We want to be part of the people who built the bridge; it is not nice to be unemployed; I call myself unemployed, because we only help people to cross the river in the heavy rains. When it is hot like today, people manage to cross by themselves. The money we make per load is not enough, as we charge R20 per load, and things are difficult for me as the head of the family,” Khulekani said.

He further states that they want answers from their councillor about why they employ people from other places to come and work in their area, while none of them are part of the process of building the bridge.