President Cyril Ramaphosa at SONA 2020. (Twitter, @PresidencyZA)
President Cyril Ramaphosa says the Durban port will expand capacity for container handling from 2.9 million units to over 11 million units of cargo.
Ramaphosa says during the last decade, Durban lost its status as the best-performing port on the African continent.
The president says partnering with the private sector on strategic concessions will boost efficiencies.
President Cyril Ramaphosa told the National Assembly of Parliament that government s plans to guide South Africa on the path to economic recovery will not succeed unless the Port of Durban is restored to its former glory.
Ramaphosa was replying orally to questions from Members of Parliament on Thursday afternoon. His replies at the hybrid plenary come a few weeks after Ramaphosa conducted a site visit to the KwaZulu-Natal port in April.
No major improvement in Durban Port efficiencies, says organised business
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Durban harbour. Photo: Times Live
BUSINESS NEWS - President Cyril Ramaphosa has welcomed the progress made at the Durban Port following reports of congestion and backlog problems.
Addressing media during a tour of inspection, President Ramaphosa said he has met with the local business people who raised concerns about the port’s inefficiencies.
“They were complaining that their goods were not travelling as quickly as they should, and they were losing money and the waiting period was quite long. We took this to heart and… the Minister of Public Enterprises and I, together with the [KwaZulu-Natal] Premier, met with the business people.”
Unions express fear over R100bn Durban port expansion project
By Vernon Mchunu
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DURBAN - ORGANISED labour is threatening to pull out all the stops to resist the government’s move to partner with the private sector in the R100 billion Durban port expansion project.
They fear that such a partnership could lead to job loses.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, who visited the Port of Durban yesterday in what he described as a consultative visit and inspection of the port development process, confirmed that a public-private partnership had been agreed upon.
The Mercury has recently reported on the port master plan and that it would be facilitated through public-private partnership deals, as the state-owned company was in the red.