Transnet National Ports Authority’s (TNPA) Port of Durban hosted fifty top-performing maritime learners from five local high schools for a career open day recently.
The open day was among the activities that marked Transport Month, which the Department of Transport celebrates in October to showcase transport infrastructure services in aviation, maritime, public transport and roads.
The port visit targeted learners who study pure mathematics and maritime studies at Mqhawe (Inanda), JG Zuma (Inanda), Mowat Park (Montclair) Margot Fonteyn (Klaarwater), and Sithengile High (Clermont).
Durban Port Manager Mpumi Dweba-Kwetana said the Transnet Academy’s marine campus had hosted the learners and given them an outline of careers offered at the parastatal and in the maritime industry at large. The high performers were also exposed to the practical side of port operations where they were shown the port’s dredging, ship handling and straddle carrier simulators.
“This year’s Transport Month theme focused on infrastructure that sustains our livelihoods. It was very important that we demonstrate to the young maritime stars how the ports play a pivotal role in our day-to-day lives through the maritime logistics value chain,” Dweba-Kwetana said.
“The aim was to give the learners practical and lived experience to the theory they learn at school. We also want to give our future mariners a glimpse of what they will be doing on a daily basis if they were to venture into the maritime industry. We do this to fuel their love for maritime and to make it easy for them to continue excelling in their studies,” Dweba- Kwetana said.
The initiative forms part of the parastatal’s corporate social investment mandate that aims to open the port to the public and ensure learners are exposed to maritime careers.
