Navy gets old-age home shipshape

R1m refurbishment part of Legacy Project

A GOOD navy should know a thing or two about how to get things shipshape – and a large group of naval members are more than proving it in Nelson Mandela Bay.

The once rundown Ekuphumleni Old Age Home in Zwide is getting a major facelift as part of a Legacy Project linked to the Armed Forces Week to be held in the Bay later this month.

Since the middle of last month, 48 SA Navy artisans – ranging from plumbers to electricians and builders – from Simonstown have been assisting with the revamp of the home.

The total estimate of the revamp and refurbishments, including labour, is more than R1-million.

This comes three months after Phillip Mqengwana, 63, John Tukani, 73, and Stanford Ngesi, 72, died in a fire that gutted part of the Ekuphumleni building.

The fire was believed to have been caused by an electrical fault.

The home houses 60 residents in five different blocks with another block used for admin and a kitchen. The Armed Forces Week, which kicks off next weekend, involves 5 000 troops, several fighter jets and warships.

They will come to the Bay as part of a mini-war demonstration and Armed Forces Parade on February 21.