Big plans for Nelson Mandela Bay ports

Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) is positioning the ports of Ngqura and Port Elizabeth under the banner of “Nelson Mandela Bay Ports,” with the two complementing each other. TNPA chief executive Tau Morwe told a business breakfast in Port Elizabeth last week that the vision of the landlord was to position Port Elizabeth as the leading sub-Saharan automotive hub, and Ngqura as the leading manganese exporting facility and sub-Saharan transhipment hub. Transnet has budgeted R25.9-bn investment in the two ports and East London packaged as the ‘South Corridor’. Addressing perceptions that Durban was being favoured over the Eastern Cape ports, Morwe was candid. “The officials in Durban are more bullish. When they say they are going to do something, they go out and do it. That is what makes them different to other provinces.” He was reinforcing comments that other Transnet officials have shared privately with FTW. Investment in Ngqura and Port Elizabeth could be increased as TNPA is now considering providing space for ship repair facilities in Ngqura. There is a gap in the market for the servicing and repair of oil rigs operating off the east and west coasts of Africa. Port Elizabeth will be modernised and deepened to handle 1.5 million TEUs a year by 2019 based on projected market demand, Port Elizabeth port manager Rajesh Dana told the meeting. Over R8.2 bn will be invested in the port of Ngqura to build a liquid bulk terminal, a 22-million-ton-a-year manganese terminal, and two general cargo berths, Ngqura port manager Mpume Dweba added. CAPTION Tau Morwe ... ‘Investment in Ngqura and Port Elizabeth could be increased.’