Storm brews over new port for Durban

Clouds are gathering over Transnet's plan to turn the old Durban International Airport into a port.

Transnet has paid Airports Company SA R1.8-billion for the site, which it says it will use to strengthen its container-handling capability.

But environmental activists have complained that no one bothered to consult the people living in the south of Durban who will be affected by the development.

"This could become another white elephant, like the Coega deep-water port outside Port Elizabeth," said GroundWork's Bobby Peek. "What they could have done was simply better manage what we have rather than put billions of rands of taxpayers' money into new projects [like those] that have failed in Eastern Cape."

Peek slammed officials for approving the project without taking into account its effect on the people living near the site.

But KwaZulu-Natal Premier Zweli Mkhize welcomed the deal: "Our efforts aimed at positioning KwaZulu-Natal as a gateway to Africa and to the world have received a major boost following the signing of this deal.

"We can say with pride that KwaZulu-Natal enjoys a competitive advantage over the rest of the country. We have Durban as the busiest port on the continent and Richards Bay managing the biggest volumes of cargo in South Africa. With the addition of the dugout port, we have an important strategic asset," said Mkhize.

The province's transport and freight logistics facilities would offer big investment spin-offs and opportunities, he said.

"The dugout port, the new Dube Trade Port, will greatly expand the capacity of KwaZulu-Natal to import and export goods. The principal component of the Dube Trade Port is a new international passenger and cargo airport, but it is the new facility's proximity to the harbours of Durban and Richards Bay that gives it the edge as a transport and logistics hub.

"Rail and road links up and down the coast to these two major sea ports will make it easy to switch cargo between modes of transport. Large quantities that arrive by sea can be dispersed . at speed by air."