Chapter 11 - Sedibeng District Municipality

• emphasis on the development of a container depot adjacent to the rail station,
together w ith the facilities to handle road transportation and truck facilities; and
• a new Airfreight facility and dedicated runw ay.
The container depot w ill operate like a “port” w ith an export-import freight container
terminal. Similar to Johannesburg’s City Deep it w ill offer a cluster of transport (rail
and road), w arehousing and distribution facilities in a single node, allow ing exporters
to benefit from the economies of collaboration, scale and localization. The features
will include:
• bonded w arehouse facilities;
• efficient loading, off loading and freight transfer handling;
• IT systems w ith data interchange, electronic trading, and consignment tracking
and tracing;
• emphasis on medium and large sized processing w arehouses as part of an
Industrial Development Zone / Export Processing Zone; and
• emphasis on the International Air link to Southern Africa and mainly Europe
(Air Cargo/Freight).
A preliminary economic impact assessment conducted by the North WestUniversity
indicates the follow ing w ith regard to the positive impact it can have on the economy
in the Vaal:
• potential to create 45 000 jobs (direct and Indirect);
• increase in total output R13 billion plus p.a.; and
• increase in Gross Geographical Product of R3 billion plus.
(d)
Findings
The preliminary findings demonstrate the project’s feasibility and include findings on:
• government policy on such development;
• airspace structures;
• environmental Green-Belt requirements of ArcelorMittal;
• future transport planning by Provincial and National Government; and
• academic demand studies for freight handling services.
(e)
Discussions with the Vanderbijlpark Estate Company (Vesco)
Vesco, contracted by ArcelorMittal‘s Vanderbijlpark Works to manage its off-site land
assets, was consulted in the pre-feasability process and supported the initiative to
establish such logictics hub.Vesco expressed a desire to be part of such development
initiative.
(f)
Location
The Consortium intends establishing the Vaal Logistics Hub to the w est of the Arcelor
Mittal Works in Vanderbijlpark, w est of provincial route R553, south-east of the
national route N1 and north-east of provincial route R57. The land is ow ned by
Arcelor Mittal (approx. 1 300 ha). The Consortium w ill request ArcelorMittal to enter
into an agreement w ith the Consortium to explore the development of this land and to
consider an appropriate land use mechanis m or divestiture.
SDM DITP, 2008 to 2013 85 31 Aug 2010