City Deep home to Africa’s largest dry port

City Deep is a categorically important industrial area, however, many might not know that it’s also home to South Africa’s largest dry port which is hugely significant to the industrial well-being of the country as a whole. 

A dry port derives its name from a standard seaport and it’s believed that its functionality is largely due to the need to create less congestion in areas which have oceans. Dry ports help the functionality of seaports as they are connected to the said locations via road or rail. An inland port is seen to hurry the movement of cargo between land and sea.

According to a report published in 2009 entitled “The Role of Dry Ports in South Africa” there are 6 inland terminals which operate from various locations within the larger urban areas of the country. These are, City Deep (Eastcon and Kazcon), Belcon (Saldanha, Ashton, and Dalcon), Deal Party (East London and George), Pretcon (Phalaborwa, Witbank, Polokwane, Nelspruit, and Piet Retief), Bayhead (Newcastle), and Bloemfontein (Kimberly, De Aar, Kroonstad, Kakamas, and Bethlehem).  Transnet Freight Rail, which is the greatest partition of the transport company Transnet controls these pivotal inland operations which are seen as being critical for successful operations and distribution of goods from dry to wet ports.

“Although South Africa has six inland terminals mentioned above, City Deep is the only inland terminal that functions as a dry port, as it is the only inland terminal where customs clearance of goods takes place. The other inland terminals handle only domestic traffic, whereas City Deep handles container traffic both from abroad and domestically” - Erené Cronje, Marianne Matthee and Waldo Krugell (2009).

This report gives the area great importance in the development of trade across vast distances in South Africa as many areas where unable to progress as far as industry was concerned largely due to the intentional lack of infrastructure upgrades and resources being allocated to certain areas due to the governance of the Apartheid government of South Africa pre 1994. “In South Africa, 70 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) is produced in only 20 percent of places. What makes the South African case more interesting is that 37 percent of GDP and 60 percent of exports originate in cities in the landlocked Gauteng province (Regional Economic Explorer, 2006). This can be explained by examining trade and extraction along with the social engineering of apartheid”. - Erené Cronje, Marianne Matthee, Waldo Krugell (2009).

Today City Deep is dealing with these issues moving forward, however still remains one of the most sort-after industrial areas in the whole of South Africa with key distribution points to the closest wet port in the country which is the Durban port, the second largest port in Africa after Port Said in Egypt. With other great incentives such as Africa’s largest fresh produce market “The Joburg Market,” many companies within the industrial property market are choosing City Deep as their operational base. There are currently 34 Industrial Properties to let in City Deep area as listed by leading industrial property brokerage API Property Group this is a clear indication of the demand and esteem this area has within South Africa as an area perfectly situated for any industrial operation.

With great access points and City Deep’s important role as being Africa’s largest dry port, there really are so many reasons why investment is evident in and around this pivotal part of South Africa for industry in Africa. One does not need any validation for conducting one's industrial businesses out of this vital area. Get in contact with an API broker today and start your next industrial operation from City Deep in the heart of South Africa’s industrial mecca.