President Cyril Ramaphosa said they want the problems at the Port of Richards Bay to be resolved by early next year. Picture: Elmond Jiyane / GCIS
President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed that logistics and transport parastatal, Transnet, is to blame for the current chaos at two of the country’s ports in Durban and Richards Bay.
Ahead of Ramaphosa’s visit to the Richards Bay port on Thursday, experts in the freight and logistics sector blamed the chaos on Transnet’s poor management of infrastructure and government’s failure for the debacle that has cost the the country billions of rand in lost revenue.
Early estimates have put the losses at R6 billion per day.
“I have (spent) the entire morning and afternoon talking to the management of Transnet trying to understand precisely what their challenges are. They have a lot of challenges that emanate from port incapability, ancient machinery and equipment that has not been maintained,” Ramaphosa said.
The visit comes after Transnet’s decision to suspend the receiving of goods via road transport into its Richards Bay Mineral Port Terminal. Reports indicate that more than 60 vessels carrying more than 70 000 containers are anchored off Durban ports, struggling to be off-loaded due to these backlogs.
Road Freight Association CEO Gavin Kelly slammed both government and Transnet for allowing the trucking situation to get out of hand following years of neglect of the country’s rail infrastructure which has collapsed.
“The first question to ask Transnet and, indeed, the president is ‘why has the road congestion reached uncontrollable levels’?
“Simply; the rail infrastructure has been allowed to decay and collapse. That lies squarely at the feet of Transnet, as well as those given the responsibility to ensure Transnet is properly run and managed, and, ultimately, the president,“ Kelly said.
Speaking to Saturday Star, a senior manager of one of the country’s biggest logistics company, who did not want to be identified, said with so many trucks stuck at the ports, South Africans should brace themselves to a big possibility of a shortage of goods.
“With so many containers stuck at the ports, we are likely to see a shortage of goods and parts at the shops. In order to fast-track the delivery of critical cargo, some suppliers are opting to bring cargo in by air. This means that goods will be more expensive…
“Businesses that import cargo will miss the festive season sales and will, therefore, make up for this with price increases. We will then see high inflation for a long time to come,” he said.
Kelly has indicated that terminal operators are struggling due to poor traffic management systems.
“ TPT (Transnet Port Terminals) has implemented a truck-booking system as a mechanism to create order. However, the solution does not include trucks destined to back-of-port facilities.
“Subsequently, even when trucks have been booked, the tempo at which the trucks arrive at port gates (TSA) at a particular time of day sometimes far exceeds the tempo in which trucks can be processed at the permit offices, as well as at the terminal stockpiles. This leads to a build-up of trucks outside the port gates on surrounding roads and on the N2”, he said.
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, who was with Ramaphosa, revealed that consequence management was being implemented in dealing with failures at port terminals under the management of Transnet.
“There will be consequence management. The board has already expressed its views and some have departed. Secondly, the processes for filling those positions are on the way. Early in the new year, as far as Transnet is concerned, we will have those gaps filled in,” he said.
Saturday Star
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