Jeff Radebe News

South Africa said it would not go for the wholesale sell-off of ports as they were regarded as strategic assets. Public Enterprises Minister Jeff Radebe said that the government had developed a ports policy to be released early next year. "Government does not envisage a wholesale privatization of ports. Instead, private operators will have a role in South African parts by way of concessions and public-private partnerships," said Radebe. South Africa has embarked on a process to accelerate the restructuring and partial privatization of state-owned assets -- focusing on defense group Denel, transport parastatal Transnet, telecommunications group Telkom and power utility Eskom.

South Africa's port authority Portnet has been chosen to host the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) global conference in April 2003. The hosting of the conference in the Indian Ocean port city of Durban between April 5-11 will be the first time the gathering takes place in Africa, Minister of Public Enterprises Jeff Radebe said. Durban is Africa's busiest port and is southern Africa's largest conduit for containerized cargo.