Francois Nortjé: R10bn Port of Gauteng has potential to make Portia Derby's year

The word port is usually associated with the coast and the sea, but developer Francois Nortjé has chosen the name port for his new ‘Distribution Junxion’, which according to his website, will become a ground breaking inland port that sits on the entry and exit points for imports into and exports out of Gauteng.” Up to now, Transnet has controlled the railways, ports and pipelines in the country and the Department of Public Enterprises is the sole shareholder on behalf of the Government. But in his turnaround plan for the economy, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni indicated in August this year that he wants to introduce competition in ports and rail and encourage private sector participation. Third-party access would be granted to the rail network. Nortjé wants to capitalise on this and has found just the right piece of land to build his inland Port of Gauteng. He told Alec Hogg that his company plans to cut the current turnaround for transport containers which take four days at City Deep/Kaserne’s inland terminal to an hour. - Linda van Tilburg