The Eastern Cape Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism is funding a study into potential land use in the port of Port Elizabeth once oil tanks and manganese ore dumps are moved to Ngqura. This is in response to strong lobbying from the municipality and business after Transnet CEO Brian Molefe told a breakfast meeting that Transnet intended using the land for a car terminal. The municipality and Business Chamber are lobbying for a waterfront. Molefe argued that a car terminal would support more jobs than a waterfront, which would simply duplicate or displace existing retail businesses in the Metro. An environmental impact assessment is already under way for the decommissioning of the oil tanks, with a parallel assessment for the construction of a new facility at Coega. The tanks are due to be moved by 2014, and the manganese dump by 2017, after which it could take two years to rehabilitate the land – meaning that any waterfront development would realistically only happen in 2020.
Study to settle PE’s car terminal versus waterfront debate
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