South Africa’s R1.75 billion mega bridge is coming

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16-03-2026
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The Msikaba Bridge, which forms part of the South African National Road Agency (Sanral) N2 Wild Coast Road project (N2WCR), remains incomplete and faces new delays.

The construction of the bridge commenced in 2019 and is expected to be the largest cable-stayed bridge in South Africa.

In 2018, Sanral announced that construction on the bridge would start in February 2019 and take 36 months to complete (ending in 2022).

However, the project hit delays with the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, and the completion date was pushed back. In 2024, the completion date was pegged at 2025.

Speaking to Engineering News, the project’s contractors have now confirmed that the completion date has been further delayed due to issues in the steel industry.

The group said that these largely relate to the partial collapse of South Africa’s steel fabrication sector.

“A motivation for the delay was submitted and subsequently granted,” they said. The specific details of the extension are not public, with no new completion date set. However, the contract remains active.

The bridge spanning the Msikaba River between Lusikisiki and Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape is expected to reduce travel time for heavy freight by three hours, once completed.

Once completed, the route between Durban and East London will reportedly be approximately 80km shorter, eliminating the need to travel inland via Kokstad.

The original contract amount, as stipulated by Sanral in 2018, was approximately R1.65 billion (excluding VAT).

N2WCR Business Forum Secretary Lwandile Gcume said the project has provided many direct and indirect opportunities across various sectors, including sectors outside of the construction industry.

“The N2 development is unlocking a lot of investment opportunities that local businesses can tap into. It opens the economy, and gives us a chance to grow and trade easily with the rest of South Africa, because there is no growth without opportunities,” said Gcume.

In 2024, Sanral estimated it would create 8,000 to 9,000 full-time equivalent jobs, with 22,000 to 28,000 indirect jobs during bridge construction.

At the end of 2024, the project had created opportunities for 44 local suppliers, 48 service providers and 61 subcontractors, valued at R665.6 million, Sanral said at the time.

In 2023, Sanral regional manager for the southern region, Mbulelo Peterson, said the bridge will stand 195 metres tall, with 128-metre-high pylons, making it the third-tallest in Africa. It will stretch over 580 metres.

“The bridge forms part of Sanral’s N2 Wild Coast Road programme, which entails upgrading a 410km stretch of road from East London to the Mtamvuna River on the border of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal,” he told the Sunday Times.

In 2024, Sanral said the project had been delayed due to the unavailability of cable in the local market, which meant they had to import cable from international suppliers as well as difficulties related to “the complexity of the engineering.”

TopAuto reported that another obstacle that was delaying the project is the presence of “construction mafias.”

These are criminal groups that extort a significant portion of the project’s funds through threats and intimidation.

TopAuto reported that these groups have hindered multiple infrastructure projects nationwide, leading the government to send in the army to safeguard workers.