Last week president Cyril Ramaphosa, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula and Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan were in Durban port to assess its efficiency. The president stated that the Durban port of entry has a future master plan to create 180,000 jobs.
Ramaphosa: “What is more pleasing is that they are making plans for the future. They are already looking at 2032 and putting forward a plan which is going to require R100 billion to invest and which will create up [to] 180 000 types of jobs. The plans fit in very well with the reforms that we have been talking about, but we want to see reforms that will also impact on how our ports function.”
This comes as the Durban port has been dealt a blow by goods delays that have negatively impacted the business sector. It also forms part of his Operation Vulindlela, which seeks to see the port become a global shipping hub.
The president said his government has identified areas that need improvement, in order to expand the footprint of the port. Insidepolitic.co.za reports that Ramaphosa described Durban port as a national asset, which is important in the economic architecture of the country. The president apparently also believes that port management will be able to implement its turnaround strategy, adding that Transnet will spend R100 billion (€5.8 bln) to modernize the Port of Durban.
The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government has expressed concerns about Transnet’s plans to relocate its head office to the Port of Ngqura in the Eastern Cape, but the president assured the province that Durban remains the most important port in the country.
Photo source: Nl.wikipedia.org