DURBAN - OVER the next 15 years, the Keystone logistics precinct could see as much as R200 billion in investments and provide employment to more than 50 000.
The precinct, in the Hammarsdale area, is set to become a critical logistics hub for the distribution of goods, coming through the Durban harbour, to the rest of the country and continent.
To date, several multimillion-rand facilities have been built there and more are under way.
In the eThekwini Municipality’s MidYear Budget and Performance Assessment Report, dated December 2021, it was noted that facilities for key retailers had been completed or were in the process of being built.
The report said: “This regional catalytic development is more 70% sold, has attracted capex of R4bn and generated over 2 500 jobs.”
The facilities at Keystone have been described as “sorting facilities” where goods are kept for a short time before being collected to be distributed to their next destination.
Last week, eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda and his executive committee members visited the facility as part of their tour of catalyst projects that they hope will trigger more economic opportunities around the city.
He was accompanied by DA and IFP councillors, Thabani Mthethwa and Mdu Nkosi respectively.
Kaunda told the developers they had the support of the municipality with the projects they were undertaking.
He said the developments in the western areas, including in Hammarsdale and Ntshongweni, would transform the area into the “Midrand of KZN”, in reference to the highly developed Midrand area in Gauteng.
A multimillion-rand mix-use development that will include housing, a hospital and shopping centre is earmarked for the Ntshongweni area.
In an interview with The Mercury yesterday, Rod Stainton, the developer and CEO of Rokwil Property Development, which is spearheading the development said the Keystone project was being viewed by the municipality, the provincial government and the national government as being a key hub for logistics not just in the province, but in the country.
He said its operations, which would facilitate the flow of goods in and out of the province, could have a tremendous positive impact on the economic fortunes of the country.
“Over the next 15 years, the investments in the area will be around R200bn and there will be about 50 000 jobs,” he said.
“The area is going to attract a lot of investments; it will not be dominated by just one group,” he said.
He said in the area there was a facility worth about R1.5bn being built, another facility had been approved for R200 million and the work would start soon.
A truck-staging facility had been established for a major goods and distributions company to keep 500 of its trucks there so they do not have to be kept at the port.
He said they expected about 2 000 jobs to be created for the projects under way.
Other multimillion-rand facilities already set up had created a few thousand jobs.
He said there were plans to also upgrade the road that connects Hammarsdale to Mpumalanga township, which wraps around the area and connects with Camperdown and Cato Ridge areas.
“That road had previously belonged to the province and the process to hand it over to the municipality has just been completed,” he said.
Stainton said the logistics hub will be key to easing the congestion at the port and could see a dry port being established where trucks could come and offload or pick up their containers without the need to go to the port.
He said the development would trigger the development of other backof-the-port operations, including things like cold storage facilities and many others.
“Such development trigger other developments that improves the quality of life of people living in that area. It could lead to amenities that people need in the area.
“They work in the area they live in and there would be no need to be travelling to town,” he said.
Mthethwa said they welcomed the development because it could address the congestion at the harbour as it could reduce the number of trucks going there and create employment opportunities for the local population.
“Our task as the municipality is therefore to upgrade the infrastructure there to make sure that it keeps up with the development,” he said.
THE MERCURY