South African History Online

Speech by President Nelson Mandela at the Opening of the Noluntu
Project

Bumbane, 14 August 1998

Your Highness, King Zwelibanzi Dalindyebo;
Premier of the Eastern
Cape;
Minister of Transport;
Members of the Provincial and National
Legislatures;
Ladies and Gentlemen,

When I was a young boy, I learned the value of education in this very area. I
am pleased to return to the place I spent many of my formative years in. And I
am honoured to be part of a project which will enable teachers to reach the
children of this area once again and teach them too, the value of a good
education.

The opening of a new road in our country is always a cause for celebration.
The new access road to the Sitebe - Komkulu area opens up a world to communities
who have been cut off through years of neglect.

The opening of new roads is part of the earnest progress we are making in
righting the wrongs of apartheid; we are confronting our evil past; we are
building and growing for the future. Here, as elsewhere, it is part of a much
broader programme to improve the lives of our people. This programme has already
seen the delivery of clean water to nearly 2,5 million people; over 600 clinics
built and the connection of electricity some two million homes. All over the
country, people are gaining access to health services, good education
opportunities and much more. There are still years of hard work ahead of us all
before we complete the task, but we can be proud of the act that democracy is
already changing the lives of millions.

For the villages in this area, this road means health services, schools,
shops and other facilities are within reach. It means mobility and choices for
people who have been forced to spend many hours walking or forced to pay high
transport costs because their homes are far from any roads.

And in this case, the new road is special because it means access to Bumbane,
the Great Place: home of the late King Sabata Dalindyebo, who fought for the
liberation of our country and who was forced into exile as a result.

As a result of his courage, the apartheid government and its servants
punished all those who were loyal to King Sabata and to democracy, by neglecting
their needs. The infrastructure deteriorated so badly that many people could
only reach health services; food supplies and schools through walking. Even
taxis and buses could not service the area.

By the construction of this road, we are finally able to empower Dalindyebo's
people once again. One of the standards by which our democratic government must
be judged is how much it does to empower those who have been most weakened by
apartheid. This empowerment comes in many forms. By ensuring that this was a
labour-intensive project, job opportunities were created for people of this
region which brought training and skills development as well as work.

Another way in which this project has empowered people is that it was built
primarily by women. The contract for this road reflected the fact that this is
an area populated chiefly by women. It is thus fitting that there were 70 women
for every 30 men engaged in building this project.

Given this opportunity the women of this area have risen to the challenge.
That is clear from the fact that out of the 22 employees who qualified for Civil
Engineering Training Board certification, 16 were women. To them and to the five
women who gained additional accredited training in project management, as well
as t everyone else, I wish to say: congratulations on your sterling efforts.

This project has been a model of reconstruction and development: redressing
the legacy of the past; opening new opportunities; and developing vital skills
for building our nation.

Today as we celebrate the completion of the Noluntu project and officially
mark the opening of the road, we can say with confidence:

Together, through hard work, we will continue to build a better life for all.

I thank you.