New port managers take over in Durban and Richards Bay

Terry Hutson A NEW set of hands will take the helm of the country’s two biggest and busiest ports from this month following the appointment of new port managers at both Durban and Richards Bay. This comes hot on the heels of the appointment of a new harbour master at the port of Durban (FTW June 13, 2003) to fill a post that had been vacant for more than a year. The latest developments are a result of a chain reaction following the transfer of the National Port Authority’s general manager: ports and corporate communication, Riah Phiyega, to Transnet as its chief executive for corporate affairs. NPA’s chief executive, Siyabonga Gama, confirmed at the weekend that Nozipho Sithole, port manager at Durban was moving to head office as new GM for ports and corporate communications. This created a vacancy at Durban, which has been filled by transferring the experienced port manager of Richards Bay, Basil Ndlovu, to the neighbouring KZN port, and appointing Douglas Hlubi Mzamo as port manager for Richards Bay. “With Riah Phiyega moving to Transnet I’ve been short-handed at head office,” Gama told FTW, “but I’ve been excited by the way Nozipho Sithole has run the Port of Durban for the past several years and also by the way in which her colleagues respect her.” Ndlovu comes to Durban with seven years of port management experience, having served capably in this capacity at the ports of Saldanha and Richards Bay. Richards Bay’s new port manager Mzamo is a chemical engineer by profession and has a background in several industries including a stint with Richards Bay Minerals, the IDC and with marine operations at the Port of Cape Town. The appointments all take immediate effect.