Investment in infrastructure powers up growth

By LEIGH-ANNE SA JOE
ECONOMIC GROWTH in parts of the Eastern Cape is
being underpinned by spending on key infrastructure.
During the 2006/07 financial year, the Eastern
Cape Department of Transport completed its upgrade
of several gravel roads in the province, including the
N2 to Kei Mouth and Maclear to Mount Fletcher.
The Department and SA National Roads Agency
Limited (Sanral) are conducting a feasibility study on
tolling the road between East London and the R72 in
Port Elizabeth. Approval will help ease the increasing
traffic volumes on the route, including heavy vehicles.
The Airports Company of South Africa says that a
3 000 metre runway extension at the Port Elizabeth
Airport is a “great possibility” with preliminary studies
being commissioned. There are also plans to extend the car park at the airport to provide an additional 300 bays. This, and the runway extension, should be completed by early 2010.
A R100 million upgrade at Bhisho Airport is under
way as part of the Blue Skyway Aviation Strategy for functional rural airstrips in Bhisho
and Mthatha. Final studies on
an Mthatha airport upgrade are
being completed.
The port of Port Elizabeth
has also attracted significant
investment as container traffic
volumes reach record levels.
According to Transnet Port Terminals 41 362 teus
were handled at the container terminal in July, a yearon-
year increase of 18%. Growth has been leveraged
by new port equipment, eleven straddle carriers, as
well as ongoing maintenance.
Work on Port Elizabeth’s second port at Ngqura
is due to restart following approval from the
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.
The developments include completion of the
container handling area, a railway connection from
the port to the Coega station and two additional
berths for container vessels.
But it’s not all smooth sailing.
The fight for the relocation of manganese dumps
and the fuel tank farm from Port
Elizabeth harbour to the Coega
IDZ continues. The Mandela Bay
Development Agency is eager to
get a headstart on the proposed
waterfront development in
the area, which could become
a major tourist attraction for
Nelson Mandela Bay featuring an iconic Freedom
Statue and a number of supporting facilities.
On the other hand, the I ndustrial Development
Zones in the Eastern Cape continue to draw
investment and capitalise on existing developments.
In August, the East London IDZ announced that
five new investors from the automotive, construction
and logistics sectors would bring around R775 million
worth of investment to the IDZ.
Most of these investors will manufacture from the
ELIDZ’s newly-developed Automotive Supplier Park,
a site for first and second tier suppliers of the new
Mercedes Benz C-Class.
Excitement continues to mount over the
construction of the Alcan aluminium smelter at the
Coega I DZ. The Canadian company announced a
joint-partnership by SNC-Lavalin, Murray and Roberts
and H atch for the front-end engineering and design
of the first phase of the smelter, which will take nine
months to complete.
But the electricity crisis has led to talk over
the country’s capability to power the smelter and
still meet the demands of existing industries. In a
recent development, a consortium headed by AES
Corporation of the United States was announced
as the preferred bidder for a gas turbine peaking
power plant of 342MW in the Eastern Cape. Financial
closure for this is expected by the end of 2009.