INLSA
An aerial view of part of the Port of Richards Bay, where local business is crying out for the development of a dedicated container terminal. Picture: Andre Meyer
Business and municipal leaders in Richards Bay have appealed to the national government not to sideline the area and to build a new container terminal in the Zululand port as part of government’s massive infrastructure investment drive.
Their call follows President Jacob Zuma’s announcement in his State of the Nation address last week that the government would be spending R300 billion on infrastructure projects over the next five years.
“We want a fair share of the action. For too long Richards Bay has been sidelined, despite its huge potential,” said Charmayne Pountney, CEO of the Zululand Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
In December, Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba announced a further R3bn investment in upgrades to the Port of Richards Bay. Transnet documents also show more than R12bn would be spent on upgrades for the port over the next seven years, but no money has been earmarked for a container terminal.
“That’s a concern for us… Transnet is investing billions in upgrading facilities into and at the port of Richards Bay, but none of this is for new capital projects that will open up new economic opportunities for the area. As the Zululand Chamber, we are upping the ante in calling for a fully fledged container terminal.
“We have a Cinderella container operation in Richards Bay run through the multi-purpose terminal… If we want to be taken seriously and get investment into our Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) we need a reasonably sized, dedicated container terminal here,” she said.
“With the priority being placed on already established hubs like Durban, with big projects like the dig-out port and the industrial corridor with Joburg, we fear Richards Bay will be pushed further to the sidelines. We can’t allow this to happen… The most frustrating thing is that at our port there is more than 70 percent of the land available for leasing, unlike Durban where there is very little land available.
“A few years back, the old Transnet leadership told us we can forget about a container terminal in Richards Bay. But now we’ve got the container terminal back on the radar of provincial government and need to continue to be the nagging voice and to motivate for this as the local business community.”
Pountney said a container terminal would be a major boost to the IDZ. “There is no question that a container terminal will stimulate the manufacturing sector in Richards Bay… In fact, it will support other sectors such as agriculture. A terminal with refrigeration facilities for fruit and vegetable exports would work. Our citrus farmers from neighbouring Nkwaleni used to export via Durban. But it became too expensive and now they don’t grow oranges or export,” she said.
Elphas Mbatha, mayor of uMhlathuze, also expressed concern during Gigaba’s recent visit that Richards Bay continued to be sidelined when it came to major infrastructure investment. He said the National Transport Master Plan recommended Richards Bay should handle 40 percent of KZN’s containers and Durban 60 percent. He urged Gigaba to give a container terminal “serious consideration”.
Mbatha said the huge investment in the Port of Ngqura (Coega) in the Eastern Cape had been a political one: “There were no volumes requested to prove the need for a container terminal development at Ngqura… There was huge investment in Ngqura, but the Richards Bay IDZ only received more funding two years ago.”
Gigaba had told the mayor his department would conduct a study to determine whether there was a need for a container terminal. “There are other considerations to bear in mind such as the role each port plays in the value chain and their distance from each other. We come under pressure from a range of parties all demanding infrastructure investments. We have to consider all the options,” he said.
Gary Bell, managing director of Bell Equipment, said he fully backed the call for a container terminal. “We use a couple of hundred containers annually for both importing parts as well as exporting machinery, parts and components. There would surely be a cost benefit for them to be handled through Richards Bay as opposed to Durban. A local container terminal would also improve our turnaround time while taking a load off from the congestion in the Durban port,” he added.
