The Port of Gauteng (PoG) has responded to doubt that the 1 400-hectare multi-modal logistics development is not attracting anticipated investor interest, stating that it has received “overwhelmingly positive response” since the release of the project’s White Paper.
The interest in the project south of Johannesburg on the N3 also comes from various public and private stakeholders, including logistician Paul Nordengen, PoG says in a statement.
The director of Heavy Vehicle Transport Technology Africa agrees with the port project’s developer, Francois Nortjé, that performance-based standard (PBS) trucking could significantly reduce road freight volume on the N3.
Nortjé also believes that if PBS trucking is enforced, it could contribute to the country’s fiscus through higher tolls, more effective transportation of 40ft containers between the Port of Durban and his facility, and a reduction in truck traffic on country roads on account of PBS rigs not being able to veer off the N3 to avoid toll gates.
According to Nordengen, who has a vested interest in PBS capabilities, its strategic inclusion is “already responsible for a 39% crash rate reduction in its pilot projects”.
If the government proceeds to implement the PoG’s White Paper recommendations, it will “have a significant positive impact on road safety, logistics costs, congestion on the N3 highway, and infrastructure protection”, Nordengen says in the statement.
In addition to Nordengen, Grain SA CEO Tobias Doyer has said the inland port “offers vital relief”.
In the same statement, Doyer says the project has arrived at a “critical time when the agricultural logistics system is under severe strain”.
Nortjé also mentions that the project is timeously in sync with transport minister Barbara Creecy’s “commitment to re-establishing rail as the backbone of transport for people and goods”.
During the White Paper launch in September, Nortjé confirmed that revitalising the project – 13 years in the making – is especially important given Transnet’s open-access rail freight process for third-party slot operators.
He said at the time that conglomerate investors like Amazon and MSC would be ideal for the project’s prime warehousing potential and optimal positioning on the National Corridor between Gauteng and Durban.
Also ideal is the project’s alignment with Gauteng’s 25-year Integrated Transport Master Plan (ITMP25), the PoG statement says.
Apparently, communications director at Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport (GDRT), Melitah Madiba, says the port project “fits with this strategy (ITMP25) perfectly”.
To this, the PoG statement adds that it “provides road infrastructure that unlocks local economic development and job creation”.
The statement claims that “the GDRT views the port as essential to strengthening Gauteng’s role as the country’s leading freight and logistics hub”.
However, in a last-minute update immediately prior to going live with this post, information was brought to light by the Tambo Springs Logistics Gateway, a project that is in direct opposition to the PoG development.
The information shared with Freight News will be covered in a forthcoming post.
