Cabinet has approved the issuing to Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) of a permanent operating licence to operate the manganese container terminal at the Port of Ngqura, near Port Elizabeth. This was in line with government priorities relating to Operation Phakisa on growing the country’s oceans economy and would result in relocating manganese operations from the ports of Port Elizabeth and Saldanha to the Port of Ngqura. Transnet Freight Rail was already in the process of upgrading the railway network from South Africa’s manganese-rich Northern Cape to the Port of Ngqura, to support axle loads of 26 t. The route would pass through Postmasburg, Kimberley, De Aar and Cradock on the way to South Africa’s newest deep-water harbour. The R2.3-billion first phase of the railway infrastructure project would involve the doubling of certain sections and the introduction of new passing loops to accommodate 200-wagon trains, operated using high-voltage locomotives. Portside developments to facilitate the relocation of the existing Port Elizabeth manganese terminal to an enlarged and scalable facility at the Coega industrial development zone (IDZ), situated alongside the Port of Ngqura, were also being undertaken. There were also private-sector-led plans for a new manganese smelter to be established at the IDZ. 

• [Editor:Sophie]