Cape Town - The Western Cape government has released a report on the causes of truck congestion at the Port of Cape Town which recommends the appointment of a private service provider to operate the terminal.
The report also says the greatest bar to efficiency at the port is a lack of equipment.
The effectiveness and efficiency of the port was announced as a strategic priority for the province during Premier Alan Winde’s State of the Province Address. One of the primary issues was noted as the reduction of transporter congestion.
Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC Mireille Wenger on Monday released the Transporter Congestion Report commissioned by the Department of Economic Development and Tourism and finalised at the end of May.
“The single biggest limitation to the efficient functioning of the port is the status of the Rubber-Tyred Gantries (RTGs), used to load and offload internal and external trucks, and other operating equipment.
“Historically, there has been significant capital under-expenditure in the port, leading to substantial inefficiencies,” she said.
Wenger said Transnet had confirmed the findings in its presentation to the legislature’s standing committee on finance and economic opportunities and tourism in June.
Among the report’s recommendations was that Transnet explore the possibility of private investment to accelerate the procurement of new RTGs.
Wenger said if there were significant investments in key infrastructure, the port had the potential to contribute an additional R6 billion in exports, roughly 20 000 direct and indirect jobs, and more than R1.6bn in additional taxes by 2026.
The report also found that new truck drivers to the Transnet Port Terminal (TPT) did not always know where to drop containers and caused traffic flow problems in the port area.
It said Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) security and TPT security operated as two independent systems with limited communication.
It also said the TNPA security did not have access to the list of truckers with bookings and therefore allowed access to the port randomly.
However, Exporters Club Western Cape (ECWC) chairperson Terry Gale said though he had not had time to read the whole of the 117-page report, he had concerns with regard to the date in it.
Gale said: “The stats are from 2021, although the report is dated May 2023.
“There have been vast improvements in the port system since then, for example RTGs on average 12/14 minimum operational at any given time and that’s on a bad day.”
He said ECWC met all relevant stakeholders including TNPA/TPT, the province shipping lines and transporters every Wednesday morning and had done so since June 2020.
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za