The move is driven by economic reasons and not political reasons, he said at the Africa on Track 2014 Summit in Johannesburg on Thursday.

SA’s port charges are among the highest in the world. A study by the regulator found tariffs for the port of Durban to be 874% above the global average for containers.

But if the government’s R1bn port tariff rebate is taken into consideration the tariffs decline to 721%.

A recent World Bank report on SA said lower port charges would improve competitiveness and encourage growth of small and medium-size exporters.

Mr Runge said it is cheaper to move goods through ports such as Maputo than Richards Bay in Kwa-Zulu Natal. But he said Richards Bay would be a good base port for the gas discoveries in the Southern African region.

Available: http://www.bdlive.co.za/africa/africanbusiness/2014/11/14/african-countries-avoid-sas-costly-ports