Coega proposal is madness or visionary, depending who you're talking to

ASK HALF a dozen experts for their solution to port requirements and congestion and you can expect a variety of different answers.
At the recent Port, Waterfront & Terminal Conference held in Durban it was clear that nobody knows the answer. The lack of a clear direction and any decision-making by both government and Transnet is adding to the dilemma facing shipping lines, importers and exporters.
Even within companies it seems that differing views on the way forward exist. Two back-to-back speakers from the same shipping line presented very divergent opinions on the vexing question of container facilities. According to Temba Qukula, Safmarine's infrastructure executive manager, there was a need for policy intervention that promoted national rather than purely regional interests. He suggested this meant there was a clear need to develop Coega as a strategic port.
There is a need for a policy to enhance efficient use of port capacity and to improve the general efficiency of SA ports, he said.
On the other hand Safmarine executive manager Piet van Aswegen, who stressed that his opinions were personal and not necessarily those of Safmarine, said that Portnet should improve existing facilities instead of having crazy ideas of digging out new ports.
It would be madness to build a new port somewhere east of Cape Town and west of Durban, clearly referring to proposed new port developments at Coega.
The Durban airport site also came under fire. According to KLM holds rates
an Aswegen it would be cheaper to develop existing facilities. In any case, he said, South Africa was wrongly situated to ever achieve meaningful hub status, even for Africa.
We must not live with tunnel vision that Durban in twenty years will still remain Africa's main hub with the only viable rail route. South Africa's share of the sub-Saharan traffic will never be greater than it is now. It's an unrealistic dream that we'll ever achieve a large hub status. Although the markets will grow, neighbouring countries will catch up and increase their market share as they improve their infrastructure and services.
By Terry Hutson