Cape Town - WESTERN Cape MEC for Economic Development David Maynier has decried the ‘de-prioritisation’ of the Cape Town Port in favour of the country’s other ports despite challenges grappling the harbour.
In a statement on Wednesday, Maynier said he had written to President Ramaphosa requesting he visit the port to assess the issues plaguing the key economic player for the province.
For the 2020/2021 financial year, the harbour’s container terminal saw as many as 5 064 equipment breakdowns occured across the three shifts working at the port which averaged 14 breakdowns each day.
“Every time there is a breakdown, it means that there are operational delays, which in turn have knock-on effects across the entire port supply chain, adding to berthing times and truck turn-around times. The general issue of slow service has also caused shipping lines to stop calling to the Port of Cape Town,” he added.
Maynier said he was concerned that extensive focus was being placed on the Port of Durban. Following a visit to the port last week, Ramaphosa said the Durban Port would require R100 billion in investments over ten years to expand its capacity. Plans are in place to upgrade it in order to reclaim the number one spot as first in Africa.
“The ports of Durban, Richards Bay, Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) and Mossel Bay, are being prioritised for significant short term infrastructure investments,” said Maynier.
“President Ramaphosa has also indicated that they will be exploring partnerships with the private sector to bring new investment, technology and expertise to port operations and to modernise equipment and infrastructure at Durban Port.
“We are concerned that the Port of Cape Town will not see any infrastructure investments in the short term, and there is no mention of similar private sector partnerships in relation to the Port of Cape Town.”