NATIONAL NEWS - China Road and Bridge Corporation has built a bridge between KZN town Kosi Bay and Mozambique that is expected to reduce travel between South Africa and the country’s capital, Maputo, from six hours to 90 minutes.
At its launch, KZN ANC chairperson and the province’s economic development MEC, Sihle Zikalala hailed the bridge as a victory for African integration and said it will boost the economy and create jobs.
But while the bridge was built by the Chinese, radical self-described “revolutionary socialist political party” Black First Land First (BLF) issued a statement saying that it was former president Jacob Zuma who should take credit for it.
Calling it the “Zuma Bridge”, the party said that efforts made by Zuma via the Bi-National Commission (BNC), which they said were unprecedented for a South African president, somehow led to the bridge.
They say this was through “a number [of] bilateral agreements being concluded including a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on transport, tourism, communications, maritime security cooperation, and frequency bands”.
The statement read: “President Zuma’s efforts [have] again born beautiful fruit via the various MoUs, especially on transport. In this context, the opening of Africa’s longest suspension bridge stretching from Catembe to Maputo and the new interlinked road which runs between Kosi Bay in KwaZulu Natal and Maputo is warmly welcomed and applauded.
“What used to be a four to six hours drive from South Africa to Mozambique has been shortened to a 90 minutes journey via the two roads which interlink with the great Zuma suspension bridge.”
Like many BLF statements, this one does not shy away from blurring the lines between fact and fiction, seemingly creating a link between Zuma’s role in the bridge and his removal as president.
