Transnet has remained under sharp criticism for the inefficiencies rocking South Africa’s ports and economic activity, despite its dismissal of findings by the World Bank that the Cape Town Port is the worst in the world while Durban, Coega, and Port Elizabeth in Queberha are also lowly ranked.
In its 2023 Container Port Performance Index released last week, the World Bank ranked these South African ports and terminals among the worst in the world.
However, the state-owned logistics firm yesterday dismissed the rankings, saying they were erroneous.
“The World Bank incorrectly uses the duration of a vessel’s stay as a measure of container port cargo-handling performance, relied on third party sample data and failed to give a measured terminal access to the data sample for verification prior to publication,” said Transnet.
However, South African mining and industry executives insisted that some of South Africa’s port terminals were in a worse state as a number of export commodities were still moved by road and not rail.
“The bulk terminal that is run by Transnet Port Terminals in Richards Bay is in a horrible state. Nothing is right there,” said Vuslat Bayoglu, managing director of coal producer, Menar.
In its argument, Transnet said the criteria used by the World Bank for its rankings was faulty.
The World Bank had ranked the duration that a vessel stays at a terminal as a measure of the port’s efficiency.
“Upon entering a port, a vessel is serviced by many role players before the actual loading and offloading of cargo, and these services contribute to the length of its stay,” Transnet said.
“The World Bank’s measurement of vessel’s stay in port does not take into consideration throughput and other factors that determine the duration of a stay.”
It added that weather and equipment challenges were the major causes of backlogs experienced at the Durban Container Terminal Pier 2 and the Cape Town Container Terminal.
However, Transnet explained that since October, 2023 the port infrastructure parastatal has been implementing a recovery plan to improve operational and financial performance across its business.
With the recovery plan targeted at improving productivity and optimising the operations, Transnet had noted a “stabilisation in the business as well as real improvement in rail and port” operations.
“The Recovery Plan initiatives include the acquisition of cargo-handling equipment and contracted original equipment manufacturers that are on-site to provide technical support and supply critical spares for the existing terminal fleets,” it said.
A 24-hour maintenance regime was also in place to secure availability and reliability of existing equipment.
While adverse weather conditions such as floods continue to disrupt operations, Transnet was putting in place contingency measures that include integrated planning and collaboration engagements with customers and industry are ongoing.
“TPT has also enhanced its container management system with the help of US-based NAVIS. We prioritise handling cargo and moving all the volumes we can to serve South Africa’s economic needs and our recovery efforts are yielding tangible results,” it said.
South African industry, manufacturers and the mining sector have blamed Transnet for failure to process raw materials and finished-goods for import and export.
Analysts have said that the stated desire by the MK Party to reverse privatisation of the Durban Container Terminal and the Richards Bay Terminal could drive away private-sector involvement in the country’s ports sector.
BUSINESS REPORT