Project suffers due to bad road
MBABANE - A project meant to empower women at grassroots level at Ludzeludze has suffered a blow, as a result of the bad roads in the country.
According to Colani Hlatjwako, the Africa Regional Coordinator of the One Billion Rising Campaign, she got stuck while trying to cross a flooded river with six other women at Ludzeludze, Ekudzeni, where they had gone to deliver broiler chicks and chicken feed for a rural women project.
“Women work extra hard for their success; we cannot alleviate poverty if government is not coming forth. At Ekudzeni, we had to risk our lives while trying to deliver their broiler chicks and complete feeding products for six weeks.
Failed
“They just need a small bridge. Ludzeludze MP and constituency leader (Indvuna), you have failed your constituency. Shame on you! This is part of the GBV Community Circles by One Billion Rising Eswatini in partnership with MTN Eswatini Foundation and journey of hope for women and girls,” was Hlatjwako’s exact post on social media platform, Facebook.
Trending
In the picture that has been trending for two days on social media, four women are seen pushing a grey SUV out of Ekudzeni River. During this process, the chicken feed that was in the boot of the car was
WomanMandla: The women atfer getting to their destination. soaked. The feed was worth E10 000.
Hlatjwako said the state of the road was disappointing, because it hindered progress for the people living in the area. She said every time it rained, it meant residents could not travel and this was a loss to any business they may have.
“We had to be brave that day; we pushed two cars out of the water. I was proud of the women who showed strength and pushed the car out of the water,” she said.
The sentiments by Hlatjwako were further supported by residents from around Ekudzeni. Some attested to the poor state of the road.
“It has always been like this, this week it did not even rain that much, but we experienced an overflooding bridge. The so called bridge is small to accommodate us,” said Sibahle Simelane from Ludzeludze.
Another community member said they had tried a number of times as a community to fix the road on their own, but there was only so much they could do.
“We stopped at some point because it was not worth it, we would fix the road only for it to get worse,” said the residents.
Meanwhile, Ludzeludze Member of Parliament (MP) Vusi Swali, said he was not aware of anything pertaining Hlatjwako’s sentiments.
Terrible
“I have not seen the said post, so I cannot say anything about it. With regard to the road, yes the whole of Ludzeludze has terrible roads, something that we have been working on for some time but with fail,” said the MP.
His sentiments were echoed by the Constituency Councillor Indvuna Senzo Shongwe who said he had been advocating and working on fixing the road for over four years. “I tried my level best but funds fail us and I ended up giving up. The state of the roads is beyond horrible,” he said.