Born and raised in Durban, Gerhard Botha worked for SA Port Operations for more than 26 years. He first started as Industrial Relations Manager (1989), then Human Resources Manager (1993), Special Projects Manager (1997),  and several other management positions until he was Operations Manager. In 2006, DP World invited him to go to Djibouti as the Container Terminal Manager and later also as Project Manager of the Doraleh Container Terminal development. This was a greenfield project and Gerhard did a tremendously good job. When his mission was concluded, he was invited to go to DP World  Dakar where he then again assumed functions has Container Terminal Manager and worked closely with the project team on the expansion of the terminal. Mr. Botha started in December  as Chief Operations Officer at MPDC  and his aim is to turn the Port of Maputo into a more efficient port, always bearing in mind our zero harm policy.