KZN logistics hub on track

The R6-billion Keystone

Industrial Park – which,

once operational, will serve

as a logistics hub on the

transport corridor between

Johannesburg and Durban –

is expected to open in the last

quarter of this year.

The logistics and light

industrial precinct, which is

located on the N3 highway

just outside Durban, is

being constructed next to

the Hammarsdale industrial

node, said Rod Stainton,

project manager and a

shareholder at Keystone Park

– the company behind the

development.

He said that Mr Price,

one of the country’s biggest

clothing and homeware

retailers, was one of the first

to invest in the logistics park

with the construction of a

R1bn 100 000 sqm central

distribution centre.

“Earthworks and services

installed are now well

under way in the precinct,

which comprises 27 sites,”

said Stainton, noting that

Keystone was positioned in

a strategic corridor along the

country’s biggest national

road.

“The N3 is a strategic

artery for all goods moving in

and out of the country and by

targeting the logistics market

we want them to be as close to

Durban as possible but not in

the congested part of the city.”

According to Stainton,

the eThekwini Municipality,

South African National Roads

Agency Limited (Sanral) and

the KwaZulu Natal provincial

government have thrown

their weight behind the

project.

He pointed out that

Hammarsdale was once the

epicentre of South Africa’s

textile sector but had become

a ghost town post-democracy

as cheap imports flooded the

country.

Construction of a

three-lane interchange at

the N3 and MR385 into

Hammarsdale should be

completed by the end of 2019,

said Stainton.

CAPTION

The eThekwini municipality has invested R76m in the Keystone

Industrial Park which is set to open by the end of the year.