Intense lobbying by
business, the Buffalo City
Metro and the provincial
government has seen
Transnet agreeing to invest
in the port of East London.
Transnet group chief
executive Brian Molefe told
journalists at a briefing
in Port Elizabeth recently
that the capacity of the
East London ro-ro terminal
would be increased, plans
for the upgrading of the
grain silo would go ahead,
the entrance to the port
would be widened, and that
Transnet Port Terminals
(TPT) would be purchasing
two mobile gantries.
The rail link from
Queenstown to the port
would be upgraded to cater
for coal exports.
The total budget for the
upgrades is R2.7 billion.
Pressure has been put on
Transnet by local business
and political leaders to
invest in the port, which
has become marginalised.
Molefe said “the
Eastern Cape provincial
government has been very
proactive in engaging with
us”.
Most seaborne East
London traffic now travels
through Port Elizabeth or
Ngqura, with hundreds
of trucks carrying loads
by road over the 300
kilometres between the two
cities.
At present only
geared vessels can be
accommodated in the port
because it has no shore to
ship gantries.
INSERT
‘Pressure has been
put on Transnet by
local business and
political leaders to
invest in the port,
which has become
marginalised.’
