E6M SIKHUPHE ROAD ONLY USED BY LIVESTOCK

SIKHUPHE – No motor vehicle drives on this road. A stretch of road covering about 3.5 kilometres was constructed at an estimated cost of E6M and well tarred by government, only to be good enough for strolling lovebirds and livestock at Maphopheni, a village of Sikhuphe in the Lubombo Region.

At best, it could be useful for Jeremy Clarkson’s Top Gear programme, where fast-paced and stunt-filled motor show tests whether cars, both mundane and extraordinary, live up to their manufacturers’ claims.
The empty road is linked to the D42 Highway that connects Mbadlane with His Majesty King Mswati III International Airport.

Venture

The highway, covering 17.5 kilometres was constructed at a cost of E400 million by a joint venture of Inyatsi Construction and Sadeem Al Kuwait.
The Ministry of Public Works and Transport could not respond to questions on how much the 3.5 kilometre stretch of road was constructed for, but a reputable consulting engineer said the cost of constructing a kilometre road, with proper storm water drain and signage, is no less than E2 million per kilometre.

When the Swazi News visited the area, the road was found littered with animal manure from cattle, goats and sheep. There were no signs of a motor vehicle about to travel the road. At the end of the tarred road, without a warning of a dead-end, begins a veld with grassland.

Markings

The road also has road markings and signs that are meant to caution motorists on speed, blind rise and sharp bends. Skid marks at the end of the road show that at one time, a motorist travelling along the road must have realised late that it was ending, and promptly applied sharp brakes to avoid driving in the veld.
Residents said they welcome the road because it brings development to them, but said they would rather the money was used for something else that benefits the community such as earth dams and boreholes.

A resident, Jerome Mabuza said the road was useless to motorists in that it leads to nowhere.
“I don’t understand what all these markings and road signs were meant for because the road has no continuity. I do not know why this road deserved to be tarred and upgraded the way it was. It’s just used by livestock and nothing else,” he said.

One of the few homesteads in the area was that of Lomthandazo Malindzisa, who said the road was only used by visiting relatives on rare occasions.
“If I have a relative who drives a car, they use the road. Otherwise no car travels on it, apart from livestock as they go to the dip tank. Some even spend the night there, which may pose danger to the nearby Highway should the roadside fence develop gaping holes. My cattle also use this same road when going to grazing land.”

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