Gerhard Botha has been appointed chief operating officer (COO) of the Port of Maputo, and started in the post at the beginning of December. Born and raised in Durban, Botha worked for SA Port Operations for more than 15 years. He started as industrial relations manager (1989), then human resources manager (1993), and special projects manager (1997). He was operations manager (waterside) when he left in 2006 to join DP World in Djibouti as container terminal manager and project manager for the greenfield Doraleh Container Terminal. When the project was completed, he was invited to go to DP World Dakar as container terminal manager. He was then asked by DP World to take over as COO of the Port of Maputo. Botha says he pays a great deal of attention to housekeeping and safety.
