Francois Nortjé: R10bn Port of Gauteng has potential to make Portia Derby’s year

The word port is usually associated with the coast and the sea, but developer Francois Nortjé has chosen the name port for his new 'Distribution Junxion'. According to his website it will become a ground breaking inland port that sits on the entry and exit points for imports into and exports out of Gauteng." Up to now, Transnet has controlled the railways, ports and pipelines in the country and the Department of Public Enterprises is the sole shareholder on behalf of the Government. But in his turnaround plan for the economy, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni indicated in August last year that he wants to introduce competition in ports and rail and encourage private sector participation. Third-party access would be granted to the rail network. Nortjé wants to capitalise on this and has found just the right piece of land to build his inland Port of Gauteng. He told Alec Hogg that his company plans to cut the current turnaround for transport containers which take four days at City Deep/Kaserne's inland terminal to an hour. – Linda van Tilburg

Francois Nortjé started out selling plots of lands or stands on the corner of Republic and William Nicol in Randburg. From this he became a specialist in selling land and was involved in other commercial property developments including Makro in Wonderbook, Linbro Business park in Sandton and Damelin in Randburg. As he put it, " I have been a land converter for 32 years."

The idea to improve the efficiency of transporting goods from South Africa's ports into the heartland of business came to him when his best friend, who has been importing tiles for 40 to 50 years told him that the best place for an import-export business in Gauteng, is south of the N12 in Alberton and Boksburg, near the N3. He judged that it could be a good position for a distribution warehouse, but industrial and commercial property, "wasn't a big flavour of the month in South Africa for many years: with developers concentrating on retail sales and offices."

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