IN THE BLOGLIGHT

Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) announced plans to spend over R21bn over the next seven years on improvements of infrastructure of South African ports.

 In December 2012 Durban received three new tandem lift ship-to-shore cranes for the Durban Container Terminal that are the first of their kind on the continent. This is only the start as TNPA's GM of infrastructure, port planning and development, Hamilton Nxumalo, says the upgrades will eliminate the bottlenecks that have constrained the functioning of the port in the past.

As major shipping lanes pass along the South African coastline in the south Atlantic and Indian oceans the development and opportunities South African ports offer are vital for the countries growth and development. Approximately 96% of the country's exports are conveyed by sea, and the eight commercial ports are the channels for trade between South Africa and its southern African partners.  

Cape Town
Handles the largest amount of fresh fruit, and the port also has large repair and maintenance services that are used by a number of large fishing fleets and parts of the West African oil industry.

Durban
Durban is Africa's busiest port and the largest container facility in Southern Africa.  Further plans for expansion include a multibillion-rand dug-out port by Transnet at the old Durban International Airport, expected to be ready by 2019.

East London
South Africa's only remaining river port, it consists of a multi-purpose terminal, a bulk terminal and a car terminal.The port boasts the largest export grain elevator in South Africa, which has recently been converted to handle imports in addition to exports.

Port Elizabeth
Port Elizabeth's main features are the container terminal, fruit terminal and manganese terminal. The container terminal has the advantage of being able to load railway trains directly under the gantry cranes, without containers having to be double handled, thus speeding up delivery to inland destinations.
The town also has another port -the port of Ngqura, which began commercial ship operations (containers) in October 2009. It is located some 20km northeast of Port Elizabeth and is South Africa's 8th and latest commercial port development.

Richards Bay
This portis the world’s largest bulk coal terminal and it is able to handle large ships and subsequent large volumes. In January 2012, the Swazi link rail project was announced, which would remove general freight traffic from the Richards Bay line and allow more coal trains to Richards Bay Coal Terminal.

Saldanha Bay
The port at Saldanha Bay is the only dedicated iron ore export facility in South Africa and
also houses the South African Naval Station of SAS Saldanha as well as a NSRI rescue station and a fishing harbour.

The ports of South Africa play a most important role in the economy of our country and those of neighboring landlocked members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Therefore the continuous upgrade of infrastructure and increase of capacity of our ports are vital to help the country achieved the targeted growth.

If you are part of the exciting freight industry and looking for a new freight job opportunity, we can assist you with your career development. Communicate Personnel’s Supply Chain/Freight division specialises in both sales and operations in the clearing and forwarding, courier, road freight and supply chain industries.

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In our tech-enabled work lives, many of us sit in front of a computer all day. And, unless you count dragging a mouse or lifting a cup of coffee, there isn’t a lot of physical activity involved. All this sitting on the job say researchers may be the single most harmful thing we can do to our health.

New evidence suggests, in fact, that the more hours a day you sit, the greater your likelihood of dying an earlier death regardless of how much you exercise or how lean you are. That's right: Even a sculpted six-pack can't protect you from your chair.

Nilofer Merchant suggests a small idea that just might have a big impact on your life and work health. Next time you have a one-on-one meeting, make it into a "walking meeting".

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The South African government has indicated that it is set on pursuing its Integrated Resource Plan 2010-2030 to construct new nuclear power plants, in order to increase the country’s amount of nuclear- generated electricity to 9.6 GW by 2030. This is to help meet South Africa’s growing electricity needs and in part to reduce the country’s high greenhouse-gas production.

Does South Africa have the necessary skills to accomplish this goal?
It is not clear as to whether we have the required skills to obtain, construct and manage the build of a new nuclear power station, however it can be developed seeing that South Africa already has a growth of proven engineers and scientists in the nuclear field.

What is the cost of this project?
An in-depth study into the financial capability of South Africa's nuclear objective, the cost of building six new nuclear stations can add up to an amount of R1-trillion, that can potentially increase the electricity levy by 16% over the next five years. Even though a determination on new nuclear generation is yet to be made, Eskom has been named the owner and operator of any future nuclear power stations in South Africa.

Critical issues and concerns
Starting this project requires many years of preparation. Infrastructure being the main focus, it needs to be very well structured and detailed planning and not to mention a very high capability of standards. Infrastructure is not the only concern in this development;

Funding, Finance and Human Resources capacity

Nuclear safety

Radiation protection

Radioactive waste

Stakeholder involvement

Security & Physical protection.

Electrical grid

Industrial involvement

Nuclear fuel cycle

Governmental framework

What will South Africa benefit out of this?
The government mention that they will be starting a new nuclear training centre and this will surely have a huge positive impact on our countries economy by, creating sustainable jobs and develop entrepreneurial skills.

Assistance for the project

Because they are interested in being part of this project, Rosatom (international marketing office for Russia’s State-owned, fully-integrated nuclear energy group) will most likely offer South Africa reactor designs.

South Africa can have up to 40% of the primary stage of the 9.6 GW (new NPP construction) project. With the development of the programme to units 7 and 8, localisation can be increased to 60% to 65%.

There are 437 operating nuclear power reactors in the world today according to the agency and this could increase by 80 or 90 in the next 20 years.

In context, this project will be climate friendly, making use of clean energy, solar and wind power.

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Author: Mallisa Watson

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I am sure that you’ve heard this quote one too many times, but what does it mean? How does one work smart and not hard but still get the same positive results in your workplace, personal life or just in general?

Working smart means being effective – focusing on the result we are after, not the method we use to achieve this. Don’t mistake action for effectiveness. You can actually stay busy all day at work without completing anything important. We only have a certain degree of time and energy in our day, so we need to use those resources in a smart way. Use them for things that will benefit you.

Set clear objectives for yourself
Make sure that you understand what is needed and what is important; even if it means that you have to write it down which is actually a good idea to begin with. Do not spend your time and effort on things that will not benefit you at the end of the day and not allow you to reach your goal.

Time management
We all have limited time daily to be at work and get certain things done, so make the most of it. Spend your time on the things that’s the most important or urgent and give yourself a time frame to work on it. Do not rush the project or assignment that you are busy with, otherwise it will come out sloppy and there might just be a chance that you will be required to re-do it and this will end up being a waste of your time.

Stay organized
Keep your desk as manageable as possible. Make sure all the similar projects are in one file or cupboard with dividers in them, because it is unnecessary, time wasting and stressful to have papers and files messed up and laying around on your desk.

Don't delay
Don't let work pile up, sooner or later it will catch up with you and you will have a crisis at hand. If you have set out to do something, get it done immediately instead of putting it off for the next day.

Be smart, and let us at Communicate Personnel help you save time and find you the ideal job. We have Finance jobs in accounting credit management and much more. A variety of Engineering jobs such as electrical engineering, civil engineering and construction. A range of IT jobs which includes Java developers, project managers and Oracle developers. We also specialise in Supply Chain jobs and Freight jobs such as courier, clearing and forwarding sales. Contact us today, we would love to help you.

Author: Mallisa Watson

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The mobile application space is set to boom across Africa, as several companies committed to grow the developer community in Africa through targeted investments in mobile app development.

One of these, Blackberry recently announced that they are investigating opportunities to support local mobile software application (app) developers in Africa, in a bid to attract more customers and increase black market share. The company has already opened app developer laboratories in Cape Town and Pretoria in the past year and this has resulted in the development of more than 50 local apps.

Another company that also stepped up to the plate is Intel that has entered into an agreement with business incubator iHub to target investments in mobile app development, provide training, and access to online developer resources. They have developed a model that has been used to start more than 30 other tech hubs across Africa, and enjoys a leadership role in the continent due to its size and relationship with the other hubs.

In addition more and more private equity funds locally and internationally are setting specific funds to invest in mobile technology start-ups based in sub-Sahara Africa. One such an example is Savannah Fund with investment from I/O Ventures from Silicon Valley. They have also developed accelerating and mentoring programs like 88mph that are already seeing the light in Nairobi and Cape Town.

The challenge currently for developers is not just the transition to new platforms but also the constant upskill, reskill or acquiring of a new skill fast enough in order to design and deliver on the new solutions. These initiatives by Blackberry and the like are sure to help the developers’ community create locally relevant apps, acquire new skills and job opportunities, as well as new revenue streams.

If you are a mobile developer, java developer, .Net developer, PHP developer or any other developer, we can help you with a new opportunity in your career. Communicate Personnel has a variety of IT jobs that are bound to suite your skills or experience. Contact us today for assistance with your next career move.

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