The Saturday Dispatch article “Mandla’s R200m Nkandla” (August 13) was so disingenuous in its inaccuracy, deceit and distortion that it bordered on malice.
It reminded one of ER Eddison’s quote from The Worm Ouroboros: “with cunning colubrine and malice viperine and sleights serpentine”.One could not help wonder why anyone would draw a parallel between Mvezo Komkhulu (Great Place, the birthplace of Nelson Mandela) and Nkandla.
Mvezo Komkhulu is a tiny village of less than 10000 people and was designated a national heritage site in 2000 by the Department of Arts and Culture with a small, open-air museum. It is made up of seven small villages, all under the aegis of the Mvezo traditional council.
Mvezo Komkhulu is primarily the ancestral home of the Royal House of Mandela (RHoM) and the hills surrounding the village were the playgrounds of the father of our nation as a youngster.
It is for this historical, cultural and spiritual significance that Mvezo Komkhulu was identified as a site primarily for tourism.
In the past, life in Mvezo’s seven villages and its surrounds was much like that in any rural settlement with an attendant legacy of underdevelopment, poverty and isolation. Lack of basic infrastructure services and unemployment were the primary indicators of this rural inequality.
Perhaps before elaborating on the progress at Mvezo Komkhulu, it would be appropriate to identify the three primary questions raised by the article: Why have no bookings been made? What is the purpose of the rondavels? What is the timeframe for completion?
There is also a thinly veiled inference that I am the chief beneficiary of these developments, as if to suggest I am “unduly benefiting”. Let’s start by emphatically dismissing this blatant lie as all the projects are administered by the Mvezo traditional council through the Mvezo Development Trust for the seven villages at Mvezo Komkhulu and these communities are the primary beneficiaries.
The Saturday Dispatch resorts to absolute idiocy by stating that the facilities are incomplete, yet it questions why no bookings have been made. In the same vein it states that the idea is to market Mvezo as a tourist attraction, yet goes on to ask what the purpose of the rondavels is. Finally, it questions what the timeframe is for completion.
The simple answer is that Mvezo has seen a scale of development unprecedented in its history.
This National Heritage site has seen a number of development agencies, private and public, each driving its own project and with budgetary parameters. It would therefore be best to seek answers from the appropriate sources.
Since the area was earmarked for a Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP) in 2012 a string of significant public and private investments have been made into Mvezo Komkhulu and the seven surrounding villages.
Far from being unutilised, the unfinished state of the accommodation facilities have not deterred scores of visitors, primarily schoolchildren, from coming by the busload on an almost weekly basis as day visitors.
The R127-million Ludondolo- Mvezo access road is one of the identified paved roads in ward 7 Mbhashe municipality and ward 20 KSD municipality, done by the department of rural development.
The Dispatch failed to mention that this access road is to link up with the current paved road being constructed from the N2 to Sithebe Komkhulu with the aim that these roads will lead to Xhora/Elliotdale.
Let’s actually zoom into the picture flashed on the front page of the Dispatch showing the first project implemented by the then department of environmental affairs and tourism consisting of a multipurpose centre, cultural centre, tribal court and admin offices – all of which are for the benefit of the community.
These structures – to the value of R15-million – were completed and handed to the Mvezo Development Trust in 2013. The department of environmental affairs invested a further R3-million for landscaping and greening the same site. The department of tourism invested R33-million for backpackers and selfcatering lodges, which are practically complete and soon to be handed to the community. This is the work done by government departments at Mvezo Komkhulu which has created jobs and opportunities for our communities.
With the failed open-air museum, the Mvezo Development Trust and Afesis-Corplan approached the National Lottery for funding for the Mvezo Komkhulu Museum which was completed in 2014, valued at R23-million. Although the infrastructure is complete, we as a community are still looking for funding for the content, which will embody the heritage, traditions and culture of the Royal House of Mandela.
We also in 2014 successfully completed the Mandela School of Science and Technology funded by Siemens – a state of the art school never seen before in rural South Africa to the value of R100-million with an extra R15-million for its maintenance for three years.
Last year, we completed the Makgatho Lewanika Mandela Primary School at a cost of R30-million and funded by the Dr Chung Foundation. There is also the Nolusapho Kindergarten funded by the Alimdaad Foundation (R5-million).
These are some of the projects championed by the Mvezo Development Trust along with with the private sector and NGOs which the Dispatch overlooked.
Whilse progress in urban South Africa over the past two decades is clearly marked by major infrastructure investment activity, not so the rural countryside, where many challenges still remain despite relentless efforts.
This is primarily the result of historical levels of poverty and inequality resulting from apartheid’s Bantustan legacy.
Successive development interventions by the ANC-led government – including the reconstruction and development programme, community based public works programme, integrated rural development strategy and comprehensive rural development programme – have sought to deal with labour intensity, development, poverty alleviation, job creation and crowding in investment.
Mvezo can truly claim to demonstrate what can be achieved when there is synergy between public sector investment and private sector and donor funding.
Despite being a model of rural development Mvezo’s integrity is being called into question by the DA for which the progress of rural settlements is anathema.
Through the ANC’s diverse range of infrastructure projects including those in Mvezo, children from these villages have access to quality education and training; women and youth have the opportunity of meaningful employment and rural communities can enjoy the benefits of unprecedented investment.
A comprehensive study sponsored by Siemens has developed a solution to address the water challenge and requires investment for the implementation phase.
How ironic that the DA brand thieves of Madiba’s image and legacy are hell bent on casting aspersions on the only place on earth dedicated to celebrating the ancestral history, birth, early childhood and legacy of our global icon. In its haste to rubbish the good work done to restore Madiba’s birthplace to its rightful place, the DA’s Phumzile van Damme and its lackeys in the Sunday Times resorted to the vilest assault on his legacy and memory. Kodwa asimanga siyaqhuba! (We are moving forward).
OPINION: 67 minutes of malice - Mandla responds
It reminded one of ER Eddison’s quote from The Worm Ouroboros: “with cunning colubrine and malice viperine and sleights serpentine”.One could not help wonder why anyone would draw a parallel between Mvezo Komkhulu (Great Place, the birthplace of Nelson Mandela) and Nkandla.
Mvezo Komkhulu is a tiny village of less than 10000 people and was designated a national heritage site in 2000 by the Department of Arts and Culture with a small, open-air museum. It is made up of seven small villages, all under the aegis of the Mvezo traditional council.
Mvezo Komkhulu is primarily the ancestral home of the Royal House of Mandela (RHoM) and the hills surrounding the village were the playgrounds of the father of our nation as a youngster.
It is for this historical, cultural and spiritual significance that Mvezo Komkhulu was identified as a site primarily for tourism.
In the past, life in Mvezo’s seven villages and its surrounds was much like that in any rural settlement with an attendant legacy of underdevelopment, poverty and isolation. Lack of basic infrastructure services and unemployment were the primary indicators of this rural inequality.
Perhaps before elaborating on the progress at Mvezo Komkhulu, it would be appropriate to identify the three primary questions raised by the article: Why have no bookings been made? What is the purpose of the rondavels? What is the timeframe for completion?
There is also a thinly veiled inference that I am the chief beneficiary of these developments, as if to suggest I am “unduly benefiting”. Let’s start by emphatically dismissing this blatant lie as all the projects are administered by the Mvezo traditional council through the Mvezo Development Trust for the seven villages at Mvezo Komkhulu and these communities are the primary beneficiaries.
The Saturday Dispatch resorts to absolute idiocy by stating that the facilities are incomplete, yet it questions why no bookings have been made. In the same vein it states that the idea is to market Mvezo as a tourist attraction, yet goes on to ask what the purpose of the rondavels is. Finally, it questions what the timeframe is for completion.
The simple answer is that Mvezo has seen a scale of development unprecedented in its history.
This National Heritage site has seen a number of development agencies, private and public, each driving its own project and with budgetary parameters. It would therefore be best to seek answers from the appropriate sources.
Since the area was earmarked for a Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP) in 2012 a string of significant public and private investments have been made into Mvezo Komkhulu and the seven surrounding villages.
Far from being unutilised, the unfinished state of the accommodation facilities have not deterred scores of visitors, primarily schoolchildren, from coming by the busload on an almost weekly basis as day visitors.
The R127-million Ludondolo- Mvezo access road is one of the identified paved roads in ward 7 Mbhashe municipality and ward 20 KSD municipality, done by the department of rural development.
The Dispatch failed to mention that this access road is to link up with the current paved road being constructed from the N2 to Sithebe Komkhulu with the aim that these roads will lead to Xhora/Elliotdale.
Let’s actually zoom into the picture flashed on the front page of the Dispatch showing the first project implemented by the then department of environmental affairs and tourism consisting of a multipurpose centre, cultural centre, tribal court and admin offices – all of which are for the benefit of the community.
These structures – to the value of R15-million – were completed and handed to the Mvezo Development Trust in 2013. The department of environmental affairs invested a further R3-million for landscaping and greening the same site. The department of tourism invested R33-million for backpackers and selfcatering lodges, which are practically complete and soon to be handed to the community. This is the work done by government departments at Mvezo Komkhulu which has created jobs and opportunities for our communities.
With the failed open-air museum, the Mvezo Development Trust and Afesis-Corplan approached the National Lottery for funding for the Mvezo Komkhulu Museum which was completed in 2014, valued at R23-million. Although the infrastructure is complete, we as a community are still looking for funding for the content, which will embody the heritage, traditions and culture of the Royal House of Mandela.
We also in 2014 successfully completed the Mandela School of Science and Technology funded by Siemens – a state of the art school never seen before in rural South Africa to the value of R100-million with an extra R15-million for its maintenance for three years.
Last year, we completed the Makgatho Lewanika Mandela Primary School at a cost of R30-million and funded by the Dr Chung Foundation. There is also the Nolusapho Kindergarten funded by the Alimdaad Foundation (R5-million).
These are some of the projects championed by the Mvezo Development Trust along with with the private sector and NGOs which the Dispatch overlooked.
Whilse progress in urban South Africa over the past two decades is clearly marked by major infrastructure investment activity, not so the rural countryside, where many challenges still remain despite relentless efforts.
This is primarily the result of historical levels of poverty and inequality resulting from apartheid’s Bantustan legacy.
Successive development interventions by the ANC-led government – including the reconstruction and development programme, community based public works programme, integrated rural development strategy and comprehensive rural development programme – have sought to deal with labour intensity, development, poverty alleviation, job creation and crowding in investment.
Mvezo can truly claim to demonstrate what can be achieved when there is synergy between public sector investment and private sector and donor funding.
Despite being a model of rural development Mvezo’s integrity is being called into question by the DA for which the progress of rural settlements is anathema.
Through the ANC’s diverse range of infrastructure projects including those in Mvezo, children from these villages have access to quality education and training; women and youth have the opportunity of meaningful employment and rural communities can enjoy the benefits of unprecedented investment.
A comprehensive study sponsored by Siemens has developed a solution to address the water challenge and requires investment for the implementation phase.
How ironic that the DA brand thieves of Madiba’s image and legacy are hell bent on casting aspersions on the only place on earth dedicated to celebrating the ancestral history, birth, early childhood and legacy of our global icon. In its haste to rubbish the good work done to restore Madiba’s birthplace to its rightful place, the DA’s Phumzile van Damme and its lackeys in the Sunday Times resorted to the vilest assault on his legacy and memory. Kodwa asimanga siyaqhuba! (We are moving forward).
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