by Terry Hutson THERE ARE conflicting signals from Portnet and government regarding future port policy.
In early October Khetso Gordhan, director general of the Department of Transport, confirmed that his department and the cabinet was firmly committed to the idea of the various ports remaining independent of each other and competing on service. We should be moving towards a system of seven separate port authorities, he said.
Portnet individuals, however, people like Durban port manager Bax Nomvete, see things differently. He believes that Portnet should have a centralised function with each port working towards complementing the other, in the sense that Richards Bay and Saldanha are left to concentrate on bulk traffic, while general cargo handling (and containers) remains the responsibility of the likes of Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.
Transnet m.d. Saki Macozoma, who visited East London recently, also spoke out strongly against a separate identity for the ports. In particular he discouraged Eastern Cape ports from vying with each other, saying they should work in tandem. He did however urge all ports to develop their own future vision.
Move to relocate motor industry to Port Elizabeth Now comes news that the central government intended to introduce massive tax incentives to encourage motor manufacturers to relocate to Port Elizabeth as their preferred port of entry and exit for the motor trade. While this may fit in with government intentions to revitalise the Eastern Cape economy, the news was received with shock and surprise in the motor and freight forwarding industries. It also seems to conflict with the DoT view that each port should be left to develop its own identity indpendently of any other.
Minister of Public Enterprises Stella Sigcau then entered the debate when she wrote to the KZN Association of Freight Forwarders, Harbour Carriers and Warehousemen, announcing that the government had decided in favour of building a terminal for fully-built-up motor vehicles at P.E. rather than Durban.
She said that the government expected that the local motor industry would become more export-orientated in order to remain competitive in the global market place. As a result she anticipated that motor manufacturers would relocate to the coast, and that with central government's tax incentives and the existing motor industry in the Eastern Cape, this would be a most likely location for a motor industry cluster.
The Minister pointed out that the KwaZulu Natal ports were under constant pressure, while the railway main lines and ports of the Eastern Cape were under-utilised. Spoornet had also offered to equalise railage rates for the motor industry using the Eastern Cape.
After a series of urgent meetings with Portnet in Durban and Johannesburg, the Gauteng and Durban-based motor industry expressed strong resistance to these moves. While agreeing that P.E. needed a motor terminal, they made it clear that one was also required at Durban. They threatened to even consider moving their shipping to Maputo if Portnet continued to force the issue of the Eastern Cape.
FTW understands that Portnet has subsequently backed down on this issue and agreed that two motor terminals, one at P.E. and the other at Durban, should be built. The new terminal at Durban will now be in the Cato Creek area near the Point.
These differing views hint that various political and even personal agendas are at stake, and not merely straight economic considerations. With the announcement of the new container terminal expected shortly, a similar scenario is unfolding, with mounting political pressure to build at P.E. despite economic and common sense which seems to indicate a new terminal is also necessary at a congested Durban.
