Friday, 04 November 2011

Harbour threat

R54-billion port-and-rail plan will sideline Richards Bay

Richards Bay is set to lose its status as the most important port in southern Africa. The threat comes as a project by three southern African countries to build a rail network and rival harbour in Mozambique just 20km north of the KZN border gets off the ground. Business leaders approached for comment on how the development would affect Richards Bay, voiced their despair at the decades of mismanagement and neglect of this region, and bemoaned the lost opportunities costing the country dearly in terms of growth and jobs.

‘Ponta Techobanine poses a major threat in terms of what we are trying to achieve here,’ says Frans van der Walt, who founded the uThungulu Strategic Development Committee to try and solve the infrastructural challenges bedevilling the region. ‘Most businesses are here because of the port. If government keeps dragging its feet, many are likely to close or relocate. ‘The sad fact is the ports to the north competing with Richards Bay are just more efficient, and they have better infrastructure and resources. Our port is very inefficient.’

Growth restrictions
He cited the road and rail networks, and also the shortage of power supplies and water, as major factors restricting the port’s growth and efficiency. He believes that the only option for government is to enter Private Partnership Initiatives to resolve some of the issues around financing, planning and resources.

According to Mike Patterson, a past president of the Zululand Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the port is less than 40% developed. ‘It was built to be the premier port, the largest deep-water port on the east coast and a container trans-shipment hub, but something has gone wrong,’ he said.‘It’s very disheartening to see it come to nothing.’

Reservations
For some, the picture was not as bleak. Some voiced their reservations that the project would even see the light of day, especially as the proposed network runs through a lawless and insecure part of Africa. Over a thousand kilometres of railway line would be almost impossible to secure, one pointed out. Also, the R54-billion project will take 10 years to complete, by which time the South African infrastructure could have been improved, especially if the South African government responded proactively to the threat.

The development is controversial in that it is to be situated in the heart of a conservation zone, and set to scupper the success of the Lubombo Transfrontier conservation project that South Africa co-created 10 years ago. The deep-water port is to be dug inside the Maputo Elephant Reserve and neighbouring Ponto do Ouro marine reserve. The railway line will also run through the centre of a newly-proclaimed elephant migration corridor to South Africa.

Construction is set to begin next year on the 1 100km rail network, the Ponta Techobanine Inter-Regional Heavy Haul Railway Project, that will connect Zimbabwe and Botswana to the deep-sea port, Ponta Techobanine. The Mozambican government has already gazetted the boundaries of a 30 000ha oil-and-coal harbour and industrial zone.
The rail network is to run from Botswana through Zimbabwe and into Mozambique and Malawi.

It is said that Swaziland may also use the facility. Part of the plan is that new rail and pipe lines will ferry coal, crude oil, liquid fuels and other goods between the countries, bypassing South African harbours as well as Maputo. India and China are envisaged to be the main importers of the goods.