SA insulates key port jobs from strike action

In a move that makes private sector participation in the logistics sector more appealing, the state has widened the scope of essential services employees who will be barred from striking to include key operations at the country’s ports.

According to a directive issued by the department of labour & employment, the state has declared key roles at the country’s ports as essential services in a development that seeks to minimise labour disruptions at key facilities that are indispensable to SA’s trade with the rest of the world.

Under the new regulations, marine services such as navigation and berthing are deemed essential. Berthing is a crucial process in managing congestion at ports, entailing safely navigating a vessel into its designated position alongside a pier, quay or dock so that cargo operations can proceed.

One of the key areas set to benefit from the new regulations is the pharmaceutical industry, which is said to import more than R40bn worth of products annually.

Cargo services such as the offloading of explosives, gases and pharmaceutical products are now also deemed as essential, as are security services at the ports. According to data from UN Comtrade, SA’s imports of pharmaceutical products came in at $2.4bn last year.

The move by the government to ensure labour stability at the country’s ports could be seen as a further incentive for private players to invest in the sector.

Broader reforms

It dovetails with broader reforms under President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration, which has embarked on the biggest reform of the logistics sector in a generation.

Transnet’s strategy has been to pursue private sector partners if the required investments are either unaffordable to Transnet alone or are complementary to Transnet’s strategy.

Transnet National Ports Authority occupies a strategic position in SA’s transport and logistics chain, managing the eight commercial seaports — Cape Town, Durban, East London, Mossel Bay, Ngqura, Gqeberha, Richards Bay and Saldanha Bay.

In March, transport minister Barbara Creecy launched a request for information to “develop an enabling environment for private sector participation and enhanced investment in rail and port infrastructure and operations”.

The request for information is not a formal procurement process but a mechanism to understand and source information from the market, with the government intending to publish requests for proposals before year-end.

One of the corridors the request for information focuses on is the Northern Cape to Saldanha bulk minerals corridor, primarily for iron ore and manganese exports.

Flashpoints

SA’s ports have long been flashpoints of labour unrest, paralysing operations and forcing Transnet to declare force majeure, a legal clause invoked when obligations cannot be met due to extraordinary events.

The new regulations also expand essential services to shore up national security and protect the integrity of the state’s ICT infrastructure.

The hosting of data centre services and wide area network service line services by the State Information Technology Agency also now fall under the essential services ambit, as do primary healthcare services provided at SA’s universities.

The following have also been declared essential services:

• Activities of the Border Management Agency, established two years ago to man the country’s 71 ports of entry.
• Civilian services provided by the department of defence in support of the national defence force. These include services provided by the military intelligence services of the army, logistics and marine services of the navy and the secretariat of the defence force.
• Bulk services in support of generation of power. 

khumalok@businesslive.co.za