Last week we published the news that everybody is invited to attend a celebration ceremony at the foot of the Cross of Hope opposite Van Stadens Bridge 40km west of Port Elizabeth at 10.30am on Thursday, December 5. Directions to the cross are shown in the above satellite image, which can be clicked to open a larger route map.
The event is to celebrate the completion of two projects aimed at preventing people from jumping to their deaths off the 140m high bridge on the N2: the Cross of Hope, and the new pedestrian barriers on both sides of the bridge.
“Hopefully there will be time before Thursday to erect the three giant steel frames with their Perspex letters that read: JESUS LOVES YOU. There is a lot of work involved in this phase of the project and there are only a few days remaining. Let’s hope this will also be possible. There is power in the name of Jesus and we want to proclaim this loud and clear to the world we live in!” says Cross of Hope project coordinator Robbie Hift in a letter inviting all those involved or interested in the projects to join the open celebration on Thursday morning.
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“We would also like to thank Victory Christian Church who came forward this week with a kind donation to help with the running costs of the project. There help is much appreciated! Any further offers of help for the project, or enquiries, or testimonies can be directed to: info@ecmirror.co.za,” he says.
Invited guests will also attend an event at 2pm at Crossways Village, near the bridge, hosted by the committee of the Friends of Van Stadens Bridge Trust, to celebrate the completion of the pedestrian barrier project.
“This celebration is the culmination of a number of years work by the trust in analysing statistics, trends and finally developing a proposal which was submitted to SANRAL on 10th November of 2011,” says FOVSBT chairman, Cliff Rose, in an invitation letter.
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“In celebrating the completion of the project we specifically would like to acknowledge SANRAL for their absolutely positive and professional manner in which they collaborated with our committee and worked through the concept, design and final installation of the barrier. In addition to this we would also like to commend Ibhayi Construction who have carried out the work and have always been aware of the importance of the project for the local and wider South African community,” he says.
He expressed thanks to donors who have supported an appeal for help with emergency repairs to CCTV equipment on the bridge. Further donations were still needed and could be made to the bank account listed in this report.
