Surprise suspension of Durban port manager

TERRY HUTSON
AN AIR of mystery hangs over the surprise “suspension” of the Durban port manager Basil Ndlovu who found himself going on indefinite leave from December 20, 2006. In a letter distributed among NPA officials, the National Ports Authority said that Ndlovu was on leave until further notice and that in the interim he was being replaced by Ricky Bhikraj in the capacity of acting port manager. When asked by FTW, Bhikraj was unable to comment on the affair, or to say how long he thought his tenure in the Durban hot seat might be. At the time of going to press it was impossible to get comment from NPA head office in Johannesburg. While the matter remains shrouded in mystery, and no one inside or outside of the NPA in Durban admits to being aware of the reason for the sudden development, port clients say they interpret this as yet another suspension within the port authority. In 2005 a number of port managers and other officials at Richards Bay, including the port engineer, were placed on suspension that lasted for more than a year before some of them were reinstated. No explanation was offered. Before coming to Durban in mid 2003 Ndlovu was port manager at Richards Bay. Prior to that he was port manager at Saldanha and has been with the NPA for about ten years. One of the concerns of port users, which has been expressed to FTW by several of the NPA’s major clients, is that senior management at the ports seldom has a chance to settle in before there are changes. “There are some well qualified and competent people but unfortunately many don’t get the opportunity of gaining the necessary experience in the ports before they
are either head-hunted or they leave for other reasons,” FTW was told.