Workers busy working on the Addo Rd at a site where Victor Ngcobo was abducted last week.....Picture By Joseph Chirume
Qgeberha
By Joseph Chirume.
Construction workers of the multi-million-rand R335 Rd (Addo Rd) in Motherwell, Gqeberha, are working under constant fear after criminals abducted Victor Ngcobo on 11 June 2025. Ngcobo is a senior employee of Down Touch Investments, a company contracted by the government to construct a 24 kilometer section of the road that links Gqeberha and the Addo region.
Community members who are benefiting from the construction of the road are also fearful that the project might be jeopardised by such criminal actions and could result in job losses.
“We’re living in perpetual fear both at work and at our homes because we don’t know who the next victim will be. All employees are pleading with the company to ramp up its security systems at all the construction sites along the Addo Rd,” said one of the employees who witnessed the kidnapping of Ngcobo.
The frightened worker told The Messenger that he and other workers’ fear started about two months ago after some of their workmates were robbed of money and personal belongings while working at a site close to an abandoned salt pan that is opposite NU12, Motherwell.
The Eastern Cape Hawks spokesperson, Warrant Officer Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana said, “The Hawks can confirm that on 11 June 2025 at about 10;30 am, a kidnapping incident occurred at Addo Road close to Monument crossing, Gqeberha. Later on, a ransom demand was made by the perpetrators.
“A kidnapping case was opened and is under investigation, however, the victim was released by his kidnapers (on 16 June 2025). The victim was found unharmed.”
W/O Mhlakuvana could not disclose whether the demanded ransom was paid or not for the release of Ngcobo. Another of Ngcobo’s workmates who also witnessed the kidnapping was still experiencing bouts of fear and anxiety when The Messenger visited the construction site two days after the incident.
Speaking on condition he would not be named, he explained, “We are all shocked and dumbfounded by the incident. The kidnapping was very fast. I only realised that Ngcobo was being kidnapped after seeing two men with firearms forcing him into a vehicle.
“I got traumatised that I took off the following day but the incident is still stuck onto my memory. The images of the ordeal left a permanent mark on me that at night I often experience nightmares. I feel as if it is happening to me. It would have been better had we received counselling because this is negatively affecting me. This is also the only job that I have, and I cannot afford to stop working given the unemployment situation in the country.”
The Addo Rd is a vital road network in the province because of its strategic location. The road links the citrus growing region of the Sundays River Valley with the ports of Ngqura and Gqeberha for the export of oranges and lemons, among other agricultural products.
Mfundi Cele, a tourist guide working for one of the tourist resorts in the Addo Elephant Park said the Addo Rd was vital to tourism as it is the only gateway to several tourist attraction resorts in the sprawling Addo national park.
Cele explained, “This is the main road that links Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport to all the tourist spots of the Sundays River Valley region. Now, if criminals derail progress then we are in for a bad experience because tourists will stop visiting our resorts resulting in hundreds of workers getting retrenched.”
Spokesperson for the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL), Lwando Mahlasela said his organization took over the project from the Eastern Cape Department of Transport. He said they have no record of any previous threats against Down Touch Investments or any of its employees, adding that the project started in August 2023, and that it is expected to be completed in March 2027.
Mahlasela explained, “Close to 22 kilometres of the R335 national road from Motherwell to Addo will be reconstructed, with over three kilometres to be upgraded to dual carriageway, including traffic circles in the urban section of the road…”
Mahlasela said the construction of the Addo Road had unlocked several job opportunities for local unemployed people as well as students interested in the engineering profession.
He said SANRAL was working together with the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality in identifying community development projects within the Motherwell area in the upgrade of the road.
He stressed that these projects entail improving pedestrian mobility (walkways) and local access roads which will benefit local communities. He revealed that the local community had expressed its appreciation about the on-going initiative by the site staff who have brought students from nearby schools to the project, allowing them to gain hands-on experience and insight about the civil engineering profession.
Mahlasela disclosed that a total of 321 people are employed, of which 85 are local labour, 155 skilled labour and 10 are students undergoing experiential training on this project.
“SANRAL has also provided internships to young students to work on this project. These figures will increase as we move into the next phase of the project,” said Mahlasela.
