https://www.engineeringnews.co.za

Downgrading of Durban naval facilities a mistake, admits Mapisa-Nqakula

Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula

Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula

8th December 2015

By: African News Agency

  

Font size: - +

A decision taken more than a decade ago to close Durban’s naval facilities was a mistake, South Africa’s Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said on Tuesday.

Mapisa-Nqakula made the comments at a sod-turning ceremony ‎held at the Salisbury Island Naval Station to mark the beginning of the process to upgrade the facility into a fully functional naval base.

“It is in fact a process to reverse what occurred in the past, when there was a decision to downscale and eventually close what was once a budding naval facility and move all facilities to Simons Town just over a decade ago. We are now wiser.”

She said that boosting the country’s naval presence on its eastern seaboard was necessary to improve security.

She said that since the government’s decision to deploy vessels to work with Tanzania and Mozambique ‎there had been a visible decline in piracy along Africa’s eastern coast.

Mapisa-Nqakula did not say what the upgrading of the Salisbury Island facility would entail or cost.

Chief of the Navy, Vice Admiral Mosuwa Hlongwane also declined to say how much the upgrade to the facilities would cost, but did say that strike craft would be based at the facility.

He said the upgrading of the base would initially entail staff being moved from Simon’s Town, but that ultimately the navy would have to increase the number of personnel in its employ.

Several buildings on the base had no windows and were in dire need of a coat of paint. The roofs of some buildings had caved in.‎

Edited by African News Agency

Comments

Showroom

Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East
Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East

Weir Minerals Europe, Middle East and Africa is a global supplier of excellent minerals solutions, including pumps, valves, hydrocyclones,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East
Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East

Weir Minerals Europe, Middle East and Africa is a global supplier of excellent minerals solutions, including pumps, valves, hydrocyclones,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.089 0.148s - 157pq - 4rq
Subscribe Now