The Nelson Mandela Legacy Bridge, which is under construction at former President Nelson Mandela's birthplace, Mvezo village in the Eastern Cape, is expected to attract tourists to the area, reports sanews.gov.za.
This is according to Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti, who accompanied President Jacob Zuma to the official launch of the bridge on Wednesday July 11.
Mvezo is a mountaintop village within the Abathembu Kingdom overlooking the Mbashe River, approximately 35 kilometres from Mthatha.
The 140-metre-long and 12-metre-wide bridge, initiated by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform as part of its Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP), is being constructed across the Mbashe River and the entire project is costing over R120 million.
President Zuma said the bridge was “both a metaphor for, and a tribute to Mandela and his willingness to build bridges between people and between ideas, between young and old as well as between cultures”.
According to Zuma, on completion, the bridge will not only connect Mvezo with Ludondolo village but also link the community to the busy N2 freeway, and thus reduce the distance between this area and East London, Mthatha and Idutywa by more than 50 kilometres. The project will also result in a shortened distance to Qunu village, where Madiba now lives.
"Many visitors, both from our country and abroad, who wish to visit the birthplace of this world icon, will be able to do so by branching off the national road and travelling a relatively short distance on a new road, thus turning Mvezo potentially into a major tourist attraction," said the president.
Nkwinti said the stimulation of tourism to the area was likely to result in the creation of businesses in the tourism sector locally and in the province as a whole.
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