Over 20,000 emaswati benefit from Gege-sicunusa road construction phase
THE 42-kilometre Gege-sicunusa road project provided direct and indirect work opportunities to thousands of emaswati. And, a breakdown of the numbers shows that in excess of 20,000 emaswati benefited from the construction process of the Gege-sicunusa road.
Matsebula said there were 800 direct employment opportunities from the Inyatsi for the project. She said further employment opportunities came about from the 50 subcontractors that we engaged by Inyatsi at varying levels of the projects.
She estimated that each subcontractor engaged at least 30 people. That would be about 1,500 employment opportunities from this segment.
iivelihoods
Based on the dependency ratio of 4.7 people per household in the country, it can be said that Inyatsi Construction contributed to supporting the livelihoods of at least 10 people for every direct employee of the company.
That means that over 20, 000 emaswati benefited from their sustenance and livelihoods from the construction phase of the project. During the duration of the project, Inyatsi Construction invested a significant amount of financial resources in wages, salaries, and benefits for the large contingent of emaswati who worked on the project. In this way, many emaswati were, and are still able, to generate money to support their families and contribute meaningfully to the country’s economy.
Over and above the direct and indirect employment opportunities provided to emaswati, the project has the ripple effect of opening up, and increasing, opportunities for SMMES and local enterprises in the area. Some of these benefits to the local entrepreneurs and businesses were through subcontracting works.
Residents were also given the chance to lease out some of their machinery to the company. This helped the residents make more money from the leased machinery, thus increasing the benefits from their investments.
Matsebula said over 1,000 local suppliers benefitted from the project.
“We sourced the majority of the products used such as cement, reinforcing steel, shuttering, consumables, oils, spares, service units, catering, and workwear,” Matsebula said.
Having been completed, the Gege -Sicunusa road directly benefits about 100,000 people, many small businesses, a number of health facilities, and several schools located along the corridor that is traversed by the road.
The project is also expected to facilitate the transportation of between 200,000 and 500,000 tonnes of goods and services per year. Benefits will primarily accrue to the businesses, communities and households, as different vehicles transport goods in an atmosphere of increased trade.
The spaces around the Gege -Sicunusa highway have also presented highly impactful opportunities for economic revitalisation, with areas like Gege, Magubheleni and others serving as excellent examples of improved local business activity. Formerly overlooked and not supported for entrepreneurship, these areas are being transformed into economic hubs and cultural attractions.
With landscaped pedestrian walkways and lanes catering to nonmotorised transportation, the road has created new connections between communities previously separated by a lack of proper infrastructure.
There is no gainsaying that the recently completed Gege - Sicunusa road is making a vital contribution to the socio-economic development and growth of the communities in the Shiselweni regions, and the entire country.
Meanwhile, Mhlanga said for the communities in which the road was built, and surrounding areas, the limited access to urban centres such as Mbabane, Manzini, Matsapha and Nhlangano, which they experienced over the past decades, is now outdated.
“As we were building the road we could see an increase in the number of buses and small businesses and these are flourishing even more now that the project has been completed,” Mhlanga said.
This was also cited by the local residents in interviews.
“Local roads are essential for Shiselweni and Manzini regions, as farmers need roads to market their products, children, and teachers to travel to school, and the elderly to visit healthcare centres,” said Mzwandile Mhlanga, a resident of Magubheleni.
Projects like the Gege - Sicunusa road are not only improving connectivity but also addressing the needs of underserved areas, economic hubs, and tourist destinations. Improved road infrastructure enables the smooth flow of goods and services, thereby reducing the transportation time and cost. This, in turn, makes the goods and services more accessible to a larger audience, leading to increased trade and commerce.
The Gege - Sicunusa road also contributes to the development of the local economy by providing employment opportunities and generating revenue for the members of the communities.
“Improving roads leads to lower transport costs and greater accessibility, including in areas adjacent to border crossing points, which opens doors to more international trade,” added Mhlanga (Mzwandile).
The road is a major catalyst for economic development as it links the communities and businesses to three borders Mahamba, Gege and Sicunusa.
Spaces
These once-empty areas, now transformed into lively spaces, not only generate economic activity but also stimulate local entrepreneurship and provide platforms for regional cultural showcases. This transformation has fostered community cohesion and turned once-dormant areas into vibrant arteries of community engagement and recreational activity.
“The new road has transformed what was once seen as a backwater, goodfor-nothing part of the country, and turned it into an amazing story of growth and revitalisation. It has created, new economic, cultural, and green spaces that bring prosperity to emaswati, stimulating local business, and helping make communities more sustainable,” said Muzi Hlophe, a public transport operator.