Unperturbed by the concerns of the national harbour authority planners, former Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula signed a special directive ordering Transnet chief executive Pepi Silinga to make way for the Turks and their 49% local power partners for the next two decades.

In his last noteworthy act as the Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula interrupted his weekend to sign a crucial document to ensure that the Turkish-owned Karpowership group gets unfettered rights to park gas ships in three major harbours for 20 years.

Mbalula (now the ANC Secretary-General) signed the document on Sunday, 26 February 2023 - barely a week before he left his ministerial position following Cyril Ramaphosa's Cabinet reshuffle and just nine days before the national department of Environmental Affairs issued a series of decisions which placed the multibillion-rand Karpowership environmental approval process in jeopardy.

Perhaps more significantly, Mbalula signed the special directive just days after the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) reiterated strong concerns that the Turkish powership project was in "direct conflict" with its own development plans for the Coega harbour.

This is because Karpowership wants to anchor three large power generation and gas supply ships in the same limited harbour space that Transnet has earmarked for a new general cargo berth and liquid bulk berths (A100) in the Coega industrial development zone.

However - Karpowership directives can only be issued by the Transport Minister to "safeguard national security" or to "promote the national, strategic or economic...