Times Of Swaziland: 6 000 JOBS COMING IN RAIL LINK PROJECT

6 000 JOBS COMING IN RAIL LINK PROJECT
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Sibusiso Zwane on 14/04/2023 11:02:00


NCABANENI – About 6 000 emaSwati are set to benefit from 7 600 job
opportunities to be created by Eswatini Rail Link (ESRL) project in the country
and in South Africa (SA).
This was revealed by Transnet Freight Rail Chief Commercial Officer Bonginkosi
Mabaso at Ncabaneni, under Ntondozi Constituency yesterday, when the Minister of
Public Works and Transport, Chief Ndlaluhlaza Ndwandwe, launched the ESRL
Resettlement Project. This ESRL project is a multibillion development that was
launched over a decade ago by the governments of South Africa and Eswatini,
through its railway companies; Transnet Freight Rail and Eswatini Railways,
respectively.
The project, which was estimated to cost E29 billion in 2016, will include the
construction of greenfield and brownfield railway lines. The greenfield railway
line will start from Lothair in South Africa to Sidvokodvo in Eswatini, while
the brownfield railway lines will be the upgrading of the existing ones between
Davel and Ermelo to Lothair (South Africa), then Sidvokodvo to Lavumisa via
Phuzumoya and Golela to Nsese (Richards Bay).
It will pass through 14 chiefdoms, which are under four constituencies in the
Manzini Region. The communities to be affected are Mangcongco, Mhlambanyatsi,
LaMgabhi and Ntondozi.
The Transnet executive said they were excited to be part of the journey that
would see regional integration becoming a reality. He said with this project,
they were now actively moving towards achieving regional integration, which
would enable countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
region to trade among themselves. He said, by so doing, they would be
competitive globally and develop their economies.
Mabaso said in 2011, when this project was started, their predecessors announced
their willingness to partner with Eswatini in building this monumental
infrastructure project. “We (Transnet Freight Rail) are here today (yesterday)
to reaffirm our commitment to partnering with the emaSwati in making this
project a reality,” Mabaso said.
He said they had analysed the impact of the project, not only in Eswatini and
South Africa, but in the SADC Region, at large. He said their analysis revealed
that in terms of creation of employment opportunities, it would create at least
7 600 guaranteed jobs in Eswatini and SA. He said in Eswatini, the project would
create at least 6 000 employment opportunities, while in SA, about 1 600 jobs
would accrue.
Development
Again, he said others looked at the impact in terms of volumes, instead of
zooming into an individual. For example, he said when he was growing up in his
village in SA, the SA government came up with a project to construct the N2
Public Road and to many, the development did not make sense.
“However, today I am standing here as a proud product of resource, which my
family got from that project and today, the N2 Public Road is bringing so much
to the South African economy. Likewise, in this very same community (Ncabaneni)
there is a young boy, who, in the not so distance future, will proudly announce
the success of his life, through this project,” Mabaso said.
On the same note, ESRL Project Director Sandile ‘SK’ Dlamini said the
development would also create permanent jobs. He added that so far, at least 12
local contractors from three different categories (B1, B2 and B3) had been
engaged and the people of the affected communities were given first preference
when employment opportunities were availed. Also, Ncabaneni Indvuna Matikweni
Nkambule said one of the contractors who won a tender in the ongoing works of
the project, was from the community.
Thereafter, the project director emphasised that this project would aim at
having spin-offs that would change the peoples’ lives for the better,
including those who would be affected by the development. Once more, the
minister said as local contractors and people from the communities had been
engaged and employed in the project, they would be paid and, in turn, they would
have income to better their lives and also pay tax, which meant that the
country’s economy would develop as the money would circulate locally.