Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality

The reader query arose ahead of the ASX-listed Jupiter mines, reporting in its latest financial year, 2026, FY26, annual report that of the above-planned 3.5 million tonnes of manganese it sold in FY26, 828,000 tonnes went through Luderitz.

In South Africa, the Saldanha Bay Corridor and the Gikebaha slash Nelson Mandela Bay Corridor are the two manganese ore transport corridors, with Saldanha regarded as a good bulk commodity transport route because very little else travels along it.

In contrast, the rail line to Jikebaha is considerably more complicated in that, as a multi-freight line, it carries a lot more than just manganese and even has passenger and automotive connections at different points.

Also, when it reaches the Jikebaha port, the manganese ore is made to wend its way through a four-terminal port complex.

Several manganese mining companies tell Engineering News and Mining Weekly that instead of 16 tonnes being made to go along the troublesome Gikebeha route and only 8 tonnes along the better Saldanha route, the way forward should be for 12 million tonnes a year to go down the Saldanha line and a matching 12 million tonnes through Gikebeha as part of what they term the 12 by 12 strategy.

Regarding the use of ludorites and whether this rail route is going to be strengthened for greater use, the MPC stated in its response to Mining Weekly's reader query, We recognise that some manganese ore volumes are exported through ludorites, with the Oopington-Arriamsfly ludorites route providing an alternative logistics option for certain producers.

These and other alternative routes currently play an important bridging role, while the Saldanha Bay and G. Kebaha slash Nelson Mandela Bay corridors are not yet able to move the full 24 million tonnes per annum by rail envisaged under the long-term dual-corridor 12x12 strategy.

We support the Government's National Rail Reform Programme and its efforts to develop a well-coordinated, balanced and optimal solution across South Africa's two principal manganese export corridors, namely Saldanha Bay and Gikebeha slash Nelson Mandela Bay.

Give me forecasts, and they were right, and they were right.

Where are you seeing yourselves land in, say, Joburg and Nelson Mandela Bay, which is another big one, Cape Town?

Elec, you know, I think I once saw an interview of you where you admitted that I've never been wrong when it comes to predictions.

I've been giving you predictions since I've met you.

Give me forecasts, and they were right, and they were right.

Where are you seeing yourselves land in, say, Joburg and Nelson Mandela Bay, which is another big one, Cape Town?

Alec, you know, I think I once saw an interview of you where you admitted that I've never been wrong when it comes to predictions.

I've been giving you predictions since I've met you.

Some local government elections news.

Apparently, Bill Harrington is now the mayoral candidate the Freedom Front Plus has put forward for Nelson Mandela Bay Metro.

Here's some interesting facts about Bill.

He spent 14 years in prison for the apartheid-era murder of an ANC activist.

Because that would be the least true statement in the history of South African politics.

I don't smile that lot because there's a lot of things happening in this metro that one cannot smile about.

What things, Bill? Like the Metro named after the father of our democracy being given to an apartheid era murderer who's been accused of sexual assault? Listen, I don't have much more to say about this other than a quick message directly to the people of Nelson Mandela Bay Metro.

If you elect this man as mayor, I will personally, I will stab every single one of you with this pen.

The importance that this kind of longevity plays in the broader ecosystem and broader economy.

It goes, uh, beyond the, um, uh, the borders of, um, Nelson Mandela Metro, which includes PE, um, the Eastern Cape.

Um, I think, um, you will know a few months, uh, a few months or a month ago, the, uh, where reports on the, uh, levels of unemployment, um, uh, in this province and, and especially where we are.

So we have a responsibility as the, the company to continue investing, uh, creating opportunities not for ourselves, uh, but and also for our suppliers and then the small businesses that are linked, uh, to our, our company.

The DA was actually bigger than the ANC in the eight metros.

So I'll just remind people that's obviously Joburg, Twane, Ekereleni, Ngating, Etegueni, which is Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, Mangalung, Bloemfontein in the three-state, Nelson Mandela Bay, Buffalo City, that's East London, PE in the Eastern Cape and Cape Town.

And what we found there was the aggregate vote for the DA was 31%.

And the ANC was on 30.9%.