The Port of Cape Town is South Africa’s highest-rated port, according to a global ranking by the World Bank.
However, the World Bank’s “The Container Port Performance Index 2020”, has placed South African ports among some of the worst-performing in the world.
Even Cape Town, the highest-ranking of our ports, was listed as only 347th out of 351 ports.
South Africa’s ports perform less efficiently than those in Djibouti, Abidjan, Beira, Maputo, Walvis Bay, Dar es Salaam and Mombasa.
According to David Maynier, Western Cape MEC of Finance and Economic Opportunities, South Africa’s container ports, including Durban, Gqeberha and Ngqura (north east of Gqeberha), ‘dominate the lower end of a sad reflection of competitiveness of ports in South Africa,’ Manner said.
Transnet will ask the World Bank for insight into the analysis presented in the Index, said Transnet spokesperson Nompumelelo Kunene.
Port congestion and under-performance have resulted in the World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business” and “Trading across Borders” reports ranking South Africa 84th and 145th respectively, out of 191 countries surveyed.
Kunene added that local ports face “ageing equipment and unprecedented weather patterns, where high winds are making it difficult for the terminals to load containers”.
In 2020 Transnet injected R2 billion in procuring new equipment. The investment was intended to address ageing equipment and improve turnaround times.
This month President Cyril Ramaphosa committed R100 billion to infrastructure development to return Durban to its former position as the top port on the African continent.
The Western Cape government recently called for intervention by the president after the port suffered more than 5 000 incidents of equipment breaking down in the last financial year. This is the equivalent of about 14 breakdowns per day, most of which are caused by equipment reaching the end of its lifespan.