Premier to Attend Official Designation of Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone

Western Cape Premier Helen Zille and Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Alan Winde, will attend the official designation of the Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) on Thursday, 31 October 2013.

Minister Winde said the hand-over of the IDZ operator permit by President Jacob Zuma to Premier Helen Zille signalled the start of a new era for the Western Cape’s oil and gas sector which would then be set for a massive boost.

Premier Zille will, in turn, issue the operator permit to the Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone Licensing Company. This company was created by Wesgro, the Western Cape Government’s investment and trade promotion agency, to establish, manage and operate the IDZ.

Minister Winde said that between October and December this year, four oil rigs are booked to be serviced at Western Cape harbours. This is expected to create 8 000 job opportunities over a two-month period, a figure illustrating the significant impact of the oil and gas industry for employment.

The Marianas, a semi-submerged ship owned by Transocean, arrived at the Port of Cape Town repair quay earlier this month.

It is still docked for services including accommodation upgrades.

This month the DS-2, a drillship, was docked at the Port of Cape Town for repairs to the vessel’s thruster. Next month two more rigs are expected to dock at the A Berth in Cape Town and at Saldanha Bay.

“For each eight week stay, these rigs create up to 2 000 job opportunities. In 2012, 5 800 jobs were created in the oil and gas industry and the sector attracted R1.2 billion investment into our economy. There is a huge opportunity for us to claim a larger share of the burgeoning African Oil and Gas market. The designation of the IDZ is a significant step toward the achievement of our goal to position ourselves as one of the continent’s oil and gas hubs,” said Minister Winde.