New Port Manager for Richards Bay
TRANSNET National Ports Authority (TNPA) has appointed a new Port of Richards Bay Port Manager following the promotion of former Manager Preston Khomo.
Khomo, who headed up the Port of Richards Bay since 2012, has been appointed as Executive Manager: Ship Repair, with the responsibility of managing and administering the organisation’s ship repair resources nationally.
Thamsanqa (Thami) Sithole will be the new man at the helm in Richards Bay.
Both appointments came into effect yesterday (Sunday).
Sithole joins TNPA from the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), where he was senior manager for the past seven years.
His responsibilities included managing the Capex budget, prioritising Capex projects and engaging with regional operations managers on projects to support rail operations.
Sithole also held the position of Programme Manager in the Infrastructure and Engineering Department at the Port of Durban from 2007 to 2011, where he was involved with the delivery of multidisciplinary infrastructure projects in line with Transnet’s capital infrastructure plan.
These included the infrastructure planning and development strategy for the Island View Precinct, as well as representing TNPA on national strategic projects such as the New Multi Product Pipeline Project (NMPP).
In his new role, Khomo will be responsible for the strategic development of ship repair infrastructure, creating mechanisms for fair and equitable access to infrastructure, as well as the provision of adequate and efficient services.
Ship repair has been in the spotlight since 2014 when government announced its Operation Phakisa strategy to unlock the potential of the ocean economy.
TNPA has rolled out numerous infrastructure projects at its facilities, which are in various stages of completion. Khomo will manage the implementation of the current capital programmes at all ship repair facilities.