Competition on horizon – Letsoalo

Ngqura needs to “grow fast” to head off competition from Namibia, Mauritius and Djibouti to be the region’s first hub port, says Solly Letsoalo, chief operating officer of Transnet Port Terminals (TPT). While “we are definitely located in the right place,” there was also a need to “grow fast to be the first in the market,” he said. The competitiveness of Ngqura would also be enhanced through better integration with the Coega Industrial Development Zone, which surrounds it. According to Letsoalo, an international study undertaken for Transnet found that hub ports and maritime clusters worked best when the same authority controlled both the port and the logistics systems serving the harbour. “The lessons internationally are that the authority which sets up the hub port should be the same authority that sets up the logistics” within the adjacent IDZ. Up to now, he said, South Africa had perhaps “missed the boat” by having two separate bodies – Transnet and the Coega Development Corporation responsible for the two different functions. There was, he said, a need for closer integration between the Coega IDZ and the port of Ngqura. Plans for the manganese ore dump and terminal are not as clear, as Transnet has told the local Herald newspaper that it intends investing a further billion rand in upgrading the manganese terminal to extend its life.