South Africa President Jacob Zuma has announced that R7 billion has been committed to new port facilities.

Delivering his State of the Nation Address in Parliament on Thursday night, Zuma said government was concerned that South Africa did not own vessels while the country was surrounded by about 3,000 kilometers of coastline.

“Through the oceans economy segment of Operation Phakisa, we are trying to solve this challenge. I am pleased that two bulk carrier vessels have been registered in Port Elizabeth, and a third tanker in Cape Town under the South African flag,” Zuma said.

This follows the adoption of a Public-Private-Partnership model for port infrastructure development by Transnet National Ports Authority, government announced in a statement on Friday.

The Operation Phakisa Big Fast results methodology was launched in 2014 and implemented in the ocean economy, health, education and mining sectors to implement policies and programmes better, faster and more effectively.

Operation Phakisa is an adaptation of the Big Fast Results methodology that was first applied by the Malaysian Government in the delivery of its economic transformation programme through which the Malaysian government was able to register better results within a short period.

Government said another positive Operation Phakisa development had been the launch of a fuel storage facility in Cape Town, bringing an investment of R660 million.

– African News Agency