By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa officially opened the Newlyn PX logistics Terminal and the Tetra Pak Manufacturing plant, respectively, in Durban, KwaZulu Natal as part of his investment promotion drive for economic growth and job creation.
The plant is expected to help alleviate freight congestion between the country’s two economic hubs on the N3 between Johannesburg and Durban.
The terminal is Africa’s largest multi-modal rail which is expected to strengthen intra-trade relations between South Africa and other African countries.
Ramaphosa said the completion and launch of the Newlyn Park Bayhead Rail Terminal project at the Port of Durban is a much-needed boost to South Africa’s logistics infrastructure network, following the devasting floods that hit Durban last year.
“This terminal is a symbol of recovery and resilience for the city of Durban, for the eThekwini Metro, for KwaZulu-Natal and indeed our country.”
Ramaphosa said the plant needs to help grow the economy.
“In order for this rail terminal project to deliver full benefits to South Africa for the purpose that it was designed for, it has to have trains and slots to be made available to clients.
“This will lead to a significant increase in revenue for Transnet and NETCO corridor through the migration of cargo from road to rail aside from the investment of approximately R3.4 billion, some 4 000 direct construction jobs have been created and now I’m pleased to know that more than 1000 employees are currently employed full-time in this facility and this number is expected to grow.”
Ramaphosa added that, “I will set up the presidential eThekwini working group that is going to focus on addressing the challenges we are facing here given rise to by water supply infrastructure.
“All those will be addressed through the co-operation at the presidential working group. This team will revitalise and reposition the Durban port and make sure that this part of our country is set for success,” he said.
The terminal will facilitate the movement of sea, rail and road cargo through Durban via a multimodal hub providing for the handling, storage, loading and movement of a variety of cargo types.
Ramaphosa said the project illustrated what can be achieved in infrastructure development when business and government work together. The terminal has been built on land leased from Transnet.
“I urge the private sector to partner us. As I have said before, infrastructure is the flywheel of our economic growth and development,” he said.
Ramaphosa said the realisation of the project, which was announced at the South African Investment Conference in 2019, had proved naysayers wrong.
“Some people, as they heard commitments being made at our conference, just said these are dreams, mere pledges. They tended to dismiss it, but today we are here to prove that what was pledged has actually happened,” said Ramaphosa.
The launch comes just months after the Durban port saw heavy delays and congestion with a backlog of at least 21 days, involving about 70,000 containers.
Ramaphosa assured investors that his working group would also tackle inefficiencies that have led to the port losing its former glory.
Meanwhile the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) says it has restored another five Metrorail corridors across Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.
These rail services were interrupted by Covid-19, vandalism, crime and poor maintanance practices under previous management teams.
The services restored as of the end of March are Cape Town to Stellenbosch (Western Cape); Merebank to Chatsglen (KwaZulu-Natal); Johannesburg to Florida (Gauteng); Johannesburg to Nancefield (Gauteng); and Germiston to Elsburg (Gauteng).
The addition of the new lines means that PRASA has now returned 31 of a planned 40 lines back into partial operation.
The agency says it is “focused on achieving full operational status for these corridors”.
Full operational status would mean running more trains at higher frequencies throughout the day.
Pivotal to this would be the roll-out of new and/or upgraded signalling systems. PRASA says it is “actively working” to repair vandalised signalling equipment.
“Significant progress is being made on the Central Line [in Cape Town], with ongoing efforts to rehabilitate rail infrastructure from Phillippi to Nolungile, and onwards to Chris Hani,” adds PRASA in a statement.