East London is known for its Harbour
Molo, Molweni! If you know how to speak Xhosa, the language indigenous to the Eastern Cape, then you know this is how to greet an acquaintance. Of course, English is also a popular language, and most residents of the province understand and can converse in English as a second or third language.
The second largest industrialized city in the Eastern Cape is East London or Oos-Londen. Its population is around 400 000 in and around the port area, but in the metropolitan section, the population balloons to 1.4 million people.
The driving force behind the growth of East London is the industrial sector. Between the years of mid-1960 to 1994, during the Apartheid era, East London was not considered part of the independent states (Bantustans) and businesses were given wage and tax incentives to set up shop. It was only after the free elections in 1994 when East London was given the go ahead to develop an East London Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) which is a duty-free port. This was one of 4 duty free areas in South Africa.
Mercedes Benz and Daimler
In the forefront of the East London economy is the plant of Daimler, which manufactures Mercedes Benz cars for both South Africa and the US market. This sector is followed by food processing, textiles, medicines, other pharmaceutical products, and clothing. The entry of these businesses helped improve the infrastructure of the city, and produced job employment and a thriving community. There is still a lot of open space in the IDZ, and the government continues to promote it in the international business arena.
It also helps that East London has excellent road links to other main cities and its own East London airport with domestic flights to other parts of South Africa.
East London Port (formerly Port Rex)
This river port is positioned at the co-ordinates of Longitude 27º 55′ E and Latitude 33º 1′ S, and connects to Gauteng, the Free State and Port Elizabeth from the southwest. It has South Africa’s biggest export grain elevator to easily accommodate the volume of exports and imports. Along the West Bank, a new fully computerized car terminal was constructed in year 2000 for the Daimler plant and can house 50 000 cars.
The river port also has a dry dock, multipurpose terminal and 12 commercial berths alongside its repair quay, fishing and pilot jetties.
The problem with the port, though, is its entrance: the port entrance can only handle a maximum draught of 10 meters for ships and vessels up to 245 meters. In short, ships that dock in East London port need tug assistance when inside the port using a pilot boat.
In 2005, the volume of cargo being moved in and out was over 2.6 million tonnes. By 2009, this volume had dramatically increased to almost 8.9 million tonnes.
Like most ports in South Africa, usage of the East London river port is based on a first come, first served basis. It has doubled in growth from the time it was opened, and today there is no reason not to expect more companies to come in, especially considering that the economy is growing quickly and that the South African government is attempting to build good relationships with domestic and foreign investors.