President Cyril Ramaphosa has blamed incompetence and lethargy in the management of the Richards Bay Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) for the dysfunction at the port.
This is as cargo movers warned that the escalating crisis at SA’s ports is hampering the movement of goods worth about R7bn a day.
A process to assess the capabilities of employees at the port, which handles 13 core commodities, is under way and “those who are clearly not able to meet that level of capabilities” will be dealt with, said Ramaphosa, without elaborating.
KwaZulu-Natal premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube has “got real evidence of the lethargy that has seeped in ... we have made it very clear to the management here that the incompetence and the lack of action that we have seen must be a matter that must be dealt with, with immediate effect”, Ramaphosa said.
The president addressed the media on Thursday after a site visit to the port, which has been the centre of complaints from TPT’s customers and the city of uMhlathuze, where the Richards Bay port is located. The city has threatened legal action against the port operator.
Chaos ensued at the Richards Bay port after the state transport company told customers last Thursday that it had no choice but to suspend the receipt of all cargo brought to the port by road. Richards Bay terminal’s managing executive, Thulasizwe Dlamini, cited “uncontrollable levels” of congestion endangering the safety of road users.
The notice to customers followed threats of legal action by the local authorities over congestion on uMhlathuze’s roads as a result of dysfunction at the port.
The move coincided with the congestion of vessels at the Durban port, which handles about 60% of the country’s container traffic, due to poor weather conditions as well as equipment breakdowns and shortages.
Denys Hobson, head of logistics at Investec, said Durban poses huge constraints ahead of the festive season, as dozens of ships are waiting for abnormally long periods.
“There’s a significant amount of cargo that needs to be unloaded from those vessels,” he said, adding that Pier Two, through which most containers move, is particularly problematic for productivity as waiting times touch three weeks before berthing.
“They’ve got severe equipment issues in terms of a lack of equipment or equipment in service, especially with the cranes. And with that, they can’t discharge or offload vessels and reload vessels with export cargo as quickly because of the equipment, so the productivity is very low,” he said.
“With the productivity being so low, it obviously takes a lot longer, so these backlogs are going to continue to build.”
Business Day reported on Monday that it would take four-and-a-half months to clear the backlog at the Durban harbour.
Cash-strapped Transnet’s poor management of SA’s commercial seaports, including Richards Bay, Durban, Cape Town and Saldanha, has resulted in the national assets undergoing little maintenance work.
SA freight companies warned that the unfolding crisis is a time bomb that affects the country’s ability to participate in international trade. According to the SA Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF), the movement of about R7bn worth of imports and exports is being impeded every day.
Maritime expert at the SAAFF, Dave Watts, told Business Day that the waiting time of two to three weeks at SA’s ports far exceeds the standard four-day waiting time and eight-day overall turnaround time achieved by peers in the Global South. “This ongoing debacle, which was avoidable, is really impacting our country’s reputation as a trading nation and as an investment destination,” he said.
SAAFF members are scrambling to secure their goods coming into the country, but fear that many traders will not receive their ordered goods in time for festive season sales, he said.
“We’ve got 56 noncontainer ships and we’ve got 40 container ships across the country waiting. The biggest problem is in Durban where there are 25, and of those 18 have been waiting for more than two weeks as of this morning.”
At the heart of the issues bedevilling the country’s ports are severe equipment shortages, with old and inadequate infrastructure impeding the smooth running of the ports.
The Road Freight Association (RFA), which has decried Transnet’s decision to stop accepting goods trucked to the port of Richards Bay, said there have been reports of transport vessels diverting cargo to neighbouring ports instead of using SA ports.
“Importers and exporters have noted that there are fewer vessels/containers available on the SA route than before,” RFA CEO Gavin Kelly said.
“There are cargoes like Zambian copper that now use other ports as opposed to Durban.”
Retailers, the automotive sector, miners and agricultural exporters are paying the price as shipping majors MSC and Maersk have resorted to imposing surcharge fees from early December.
Maersk took it a step further and decided to drop Cape Town as a port of call in a bid to avoid the disruption and spiralling operating costs.
“In recent times, we have experienced longer waiting times to berth at the ports, leading to increased operating costs,” Maersk’s Africa regional spokesperson, Adhish Alawani, said.
However, to mitigate the situation Maersk launched a new weekly service, the Cape Town Express, which allows cargo movement in and out of the port to global trade routes through trans-shipment.
Director and treasury partner at Citadel Global Events Bianca Botes said Maersk’s decision has compounded the situation at the Durban port.
She said delays in receiving projected income for exporters have resulted in a failure to meet contractual timelines, loss of competitiveness in the global sphere, additional costs and delays in receiving goods that are already paid for by importers — all adding to financial strain.
“Companies should proactively explore alternative ports and carriers, maintain strategic inventory levels and establish robust communication channels with stakeholders,” Botes said.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.