Wholesale sell-off
ruled out, writes
Terry Hutson
THE SOUTH African government has ruled out any wholesale sell-off of the country's ports because it regards them as strategic assets.
This was announced by the minister of public enterprises, Jeff Radebe, who addressed the third Britain/South Africa Partnership Week conference
in Durban recently. The event is funded by the British government to encourage new business partnerships between the two countries. Discussions this year centred on ports, rail and electricity development.
The minister said that when the ports policy is made available for public comment early next year, private operators will find they have a role to play only in terms of public-private partnerships. The port operations division will then invite private sector parties to take up stakes in the company either through concessions or private/public partnerships.
There will be no wholesale privatisation of the ports, he warned, and advised that the recent division of port authority and port operations had set the framework of facilitating the introduction of private sector operators.
Restructuring will give rise to a broad spectrum of opportunities for the domestic economy, including increased foreign direct investment and export competitiveness. In addition to enhancing the efficiency of the ports, these initiatives will reduce government's indebtedness and the cost of capital throughout the country.
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