Transnet’s arch critic heralds its Durban Port’s Filipino partner as “best in world”

Francois Nortje, director of NT55 Investments and developer of the Port of Gauteng, unpacks the watershed public-private partnership deal announced yesterday by Transnet. Nortje, the parastatal’s most vocal critic, is full of enthusiasm lauding Transnet’s selection of ICTSI, a reputable Filipino company which is one of the world’s leaders in this field - and valued at R135bn on the Manila Stock Exchange. He is not as excited about the second leg in the process, a similar partnership opportunity on rail connectivity, but reckons improving South Africa’s port infrastructure is a positive step towards levelling out the downward economic spiral of recent years. He spoke to Alec Hogg of BizNews.
Video production by Asime Nyide
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Timestamps
00:07 - Introductions
00:53 - Francois Nortjie on the reason he is interested in Transnet
03:08 - On Transnet's private sector partner ICTSI
04:56 - On ICTSI getting the nod over Chinese competitors and how that bodes for BRICS
06:46 - On Pier Two in Durban being the lifeblood of imports and exports
07:56 - On the likeliness that Transnet would want to run things on their own at some point in the future
09:06 - On the possibility that the ships on the Durban harbour will reduce due to a more efficient port operator
11:00 - On the rail traffic coming from the Durban harbour to Gauteng
14:31 - On the number of conditions the Filipino company have to adhere to to get the licence
17:01 - On what this all means for SA
19:00 - Concludes