The Port of Ngqura has managed to create over 800 permanent jobs in the Eastern Cape, Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown said on Monday…

The Minister was speaking at the Ngqura Container Terminal's 5th anniversary and expansion programme milestone.

The Minister officially opened berths 3 and 4 at the Ngqura Container Terminal, marking a significant step in Transnet's drive to expand capacity at the port, while confirming the company's position as a leading and committed partner in the economic development of the Eastern Cape Province.

The state-owned transport and logistics company's investment at the port entailed the building and deepening to 16 meters of the container terminal's two additional berths and purchase of port equipment, including two megamax ship-to shore-cranes, 18 rubber tyred gantries, 48 haulers and 48 bathtub trailers.

"I am pleased that the Port has contributed towards job-creation in the area of the Eastern Cape. To date, more than 825 permanent jobs have been created since the 'operationalisation' [sic] of the Port in October 2009," explained the Minister.

The celebrations today marked the completion of the port's third and fourth berths as well as the delivery of port operating equipment as Transnet accelerates its investment programme at the container terminal.

The investments made, take the terminal's container handling capacity from 800 TEUs to 1.5 million TEUs per annum.

She added that the creation of decent jobs remains a high priority of government.

Additionally, the port has also contributed towards the transformation of the economy.

"To date, the port's procurement spend is recorded at R900m of which R740m is Broad based Black Economic Empowerment spend.

The transformation of the economy also remains a priority area for government.

"We cannot undermine our investment towards building and developing our black suppliers. The creation of strong black industrialists shall remain top of the agenda of our government," she said.

The Minister also paid tribute to Transnet for its commitment to the port which has also benefitted from being an Industrial Development Zone.

"It's designation as a special economic zone has supported a broader-based industrialisation growth path in South Africa, while helping the country achieve the objectives as outlined in the National Development Plan (NDP).

"I would like to congratulate Transnet for investing about R14bn in building and developing the Port of Ngqura. This includes the latest investment of R2bn and the reason for us being here today. Its capability to accommodate the new generation of cellular container ships shows the business responsiveness that is so greatly required to give the country a competitive edge and stay ahead of market requirements," she explained.

Ngqura is central to Transnet's stated strategy of a complementary port system and in this regard, Transnet has earmarked and is developing Ngqura as a major transshipment hub linking ports in the East, West and Southern Africa with their trading partners.