In a scene similar to the one in 2021 when the ANC-run Enock Mgijima Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape opened a dusty stadium worth R15 million with fanfare, KwaZulu-Natal has pulled the same stunt and drew public ridicule for not taking its residents seriously.
The Nkandla Local Municipality in northern KZN, which is run by the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), opened a strip of gravel road with fanfare.
PICS: The IFP-run Nkandla local municipality in northern KZN opening a gravel road with fanfare. The local mayor was photographed cutting a ribbon. A few months back, the Jozini local municipality which is run by the same party did the same and drew widespread ridicule. pic.twitter.com/T2G2yNkDCu
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) October 11, 2023
The local mayor, Mbhekiseni Biyela, was even there to cut the ribbon to officially open the strip of gravel road on Wednesday.
The name of the gravel road is called Mdlelanga and it falls under Ward 11, about 80 kilometres away from the home of former president Jacob Zuma.
In the pictures shared by the municipality on its Facebook page, Biyela was joined by other councillors, municipal staff, and elderly community members to cut the ribbon.
Biyela’s speech was not posted on the page, making it unclear what exactly he said to the impoverished community regarding the "opening ceremony" and the "service delivery project".
The municipality’s spokesperson, Mgcobeni Khanyile, said the road is 3km long and they spent about R3.4 million on it.
Khanyile did not respond when IOL asked whether it was worthwhile to stage a ribbon-cutting ceremony as it was not an all-weather (tar) road.
In August this year, the Jozini Local Municipality near the SA-Eswatini and Mozambique borderlines also did the same.
That was when it opened a two-kilometre strip of road worth R4.7 million and drew widespread ridicule on social media for "lowering the bar".
The local mayor, Mfananaye Mathe, justified it by saying the road was not there in the first place and it was going to help the community.
IOL Politics