Image: Gallo

Johannesburg inner city

Port Elizabeth's main focus is on motor manufacturing, while the tertiary sector has not developed over the past 20 years. But the MBDA aims to boost tourism and jobs into the Eastern Cape economy and has already spent R250 million on improving the municipal infrastructure in the CBD's of Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage.

"We are not trying to be like Johannesburg or Cape Town," said Voges. The aim is to turn the manufacturing base and working mentality into something positive. He said infrastructure upgrades like those currently taking place in the inner city were already bringing entrepreneurs back into the region.

One stumbling block is seen as an ore terminal blighting the shoreline and creating health concerns.

Voges described the relationship with Transnet Port Terminals as "rocky", but that far better cooperation was now taking place as the port was so important to the region's economy. The Port Elizabeth port alone has seen a threefold increase in tonnage shipped since 2005.

The 350,000 tonne manganese ore terminal between Kings Beach and the Port Elizabeth Harbour has for years been blamed for upsetting the beachfront aesthetics and potentially causing health problems. A new beachfront development and harbour upgrade is expected to replace the facility once it is moved to either Coega, Africa's biggest industrial zone development just outside Port Elizabeth, or Saldanha.