Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has stepped into the fray regarding congestion at Cape Town port which has caused long export delays during the peak of the deciduous fruit season.
Economic growth and tourism Mayco member James Vos said reports about the backlogs were “deeply troubling” and engaged with Transnet over issues at Cape Town Harbour.
Vos said ports were key drivers of business and urban development, particularly in cities such as Cape Town, which were geographically remote from other global and national cities while also being a major entry point into South Africa and the continent.
“I have engaged with Transnet leadership to express, on behalf of the City of Cape Town and businesses within the metro, the urgency of this matter,” said Vos.
He said not only would the delays place further pressure on economic re-growth in the province and country as the Western Cape’s export market is affected, but South Africans would likely end up paying for the higher logistical costs.
He said he raised concerns about Transnet’s bid to hike tariffs by up to 24% in the next financial year.
“South African ports are already some of the most expensive in the world; should it be hiked further, we will be punishing our exporters – and the economy – even more, while increasing the appeal of less expensive competitors,” he said.
Vos said he was aware of the complexities involved in operating the port and has had numerous engagements over the past few months with the freight forwarding association, the exporters’ club and industries whose businesses have been affected by the challenges at the Cape Town facility.
Cape Terminals managing executive Wandisa Vazi said the City was a key stakeholder to Transnet and its operating divisions, including Transnet Port Terminals (TPT), which manages the Cape Town Container Terminal.
Vazi said engagements between the entities were continuous – with the next meeting scheduled for early February.
She said Cape Town weather introduced an average 39 days of downtime in terminal operations during the deciduous fruit season annually.
“This is due to fog, underwater currents and wind speeds exceeding 90 kilometres per hour, which deem it unsafe for the terminal to operate, and often results in truck and ship traffic at the terminal,” said Vazi.
She said when the Cape Town Container Terminal encountered any other operational challenges, which could range from equipment availability to the attendance of employees, it placed pressure on an already compromised system.
Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Jacques Moolman said the City’s complaints against Transnet, and Transnet trying again to clear port backlogs delays in loading and unloading ships in the Cape Town docks, were reminiscent of a cracked record unable to move to the next groove.
Moolman said it happened frequently, but when it happened at this time of year, it was worse than usual, and the City authorities were right to be concerned.
“Fruit exports from the Western Cape depend to a large extent on timing their arrival at the height of the European winter, when prices for fresh fruit are at their highest,” said Moolman.
He said delays in getting those shipments on the water meant product spoiling and their competitors in the southern hemisphere benefiting. Regrettably, port officials do not seem to recognise that.
“Similarly, many other aspects of the regional economy, apart from fruit exports, are affected as recent complaints from Makro, Game, and Builder’s Warehouse demonstrate,” he said.