Millions being spent on white elephants?

The possible demise of City Deep – if the new Customs Bill is passed in its current format – has not prevented Transnet from investing R900 million in upgrading the City Deep terminal and the railway sidings, with Transnet CEO Brian Molefe accepting assurances from customs that “nothing will change and the boxes will still be able to move seamlessly once cleared”. And if City Deep is possibly on the chopping block, what’s the future of Tambo Springs? The proposed multibillion rand Tambo Springs Inland Port and Logistics Gateway is expected to be the largest inland port in Africa once completed, according to Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport Dr Ismail Vadi. He said the department’s focus this year would narrow to the expansion and development opportunities at City Deep/ Kaserne, but R122 million had also been allocated to the roadworks surrounding the inland port. And this massive inland port project is definitely based on the principle that there will be clearing at the finished facility, according to Dr Willie Els of Inframax Holdings, whose subsidiary Tambo Springs Development Company (TSDC) is developing the 1 037-hectare multimodal freight gateway in partnership with government. “It would lose a lot of its efficacy if this were not the case,” he told FTW. It now all depends what cabinet and parliament decide about what is a double-sided policy option for them. “On the one hand,” said Els, “there’s the Sars interest in gaining a more immediate cash f low from early duty payments at the original port of entry. But then, on the other, is government’s strong desire for job creation and economic development.”