In the strongest cargo industry response yet following the Durban High Court’s ruling earlier this week that Transnet’s privatisation tender awarded to International Container Terminal Services be interdicted, the Road Freight Association (RFA) has unequivocally recorded its frustration.
“Are we doomed to an endless backwards and forwards at Pier 2?” an RFA statement says about the ruling in favour of Maersk’s quay division, APM Terminals.
The statement continues: “The woes of substandard services and inefficiencies at the Port of Durban seem destined to stay with us for the foreseeable future.
“The RFA notes with dismay that the process of introducing private players into the port – specifically Pier 2 - has been dealt a serious blow, probably the death-blow to the future sustainability of South African ports, unless this is resolved.”
At issue, as many others within industry have said, is the amount of time the country’s supply chain sector has spent waiting, in vain it seems, for the hoped-for injection of efficiency the port so direly needs.
“While the intricacies and deeper arguments that have given rise to the interdict by the High Court are not known to the RFA, it is a pity that – according to some of the argument forwarded – this process of implementing a private operation in the Port of Durban, which has been under way for a number of years, still has not resulted in efficiencies being improved at the port,” the RFA said.
The association adds that it has, on numerous occasions over at least the last decade, engaged with Transnet and Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) on the dire need to improve operations, efficiencies and capacity at the Port of Durban.
One need only consider how competing ports, notably Maputo and Walvis Bay, are on the ascendant, especially with regard to the former, where Grindrod and DP World are consistently driving Mozambique’s port prospects in the right direction.
Out west too, where Namport has formalised its terminal operations arrangement with MSC, Namibia seems on track to achieve its objectives of becoming a logistics hub for the region.
RFA chief executive Gavin Kelly said: “The reality has been that our neighbours have upped their game, that shipping lines are choosing different ports of call, and that the logistics supply chain is, in reality, shrinking through South African ports and moving to other ports.
“We cannot as a country and, more importantly, as the logistics supply chain, allow this trend to continue.
“Rail and ports have declined to such an extent that we are the laughing stock of many African countries (and they are benefiting greatly), but more importantly, we are going to lose primary and support industry sectors, shed jobs and bleed revenue from a national fiscus that is already in dire straits.
“The state monopoly of key nodes in the supply chain must be removed – especially where the state has proven that it cannot efficiently, effectively and affordably support infrastructure and services in the logistics supply chain. The private sector must be brought in to save both the status of South Africa as a logistics hub and node – both for trans-African trade and for regional and national trade.”
The RFA statement said the association expected that, through the court process, a fair and transparent introduction of private players into the Port of Durban (and other ports) would now start and become a reality.
“We cannot wait any longer. We cannot continue to be a second or last choice for those international shipping businesses, companies and industries that wish to do business within and to the north of South Africa.”
That the Port of Durban is still run as a conventional state-owned entity along lines that have been tried, tested, and proven to be prone to failure, is utterly lamentable, the statement continues.
“There are so many examples of how ports are run around the world. Is it so difficult to learn from those examples? Is the delay really about maintaining a monopoly and protecting vested interests? Those are some of the questions that the legal process should address.”
The RFA stressed that it supported the initiatives to bring private players into the Port of Durban. It further supports a transparent and fair process, ensuring that South Africa gets the best value possible for the price paid, as well as a system that will be innovative, efficient and progressive to meet the demands of the future, not just the demands of today.”
