SONA 2022: Why no ‘private partners’ for the Port of Cape Town?

11 February 2022

The Port of Cape Town continues to face multiple challenges including insufficient infrastructure investment and poor maintenance, causing significant inefficiencies, and compromising economic growth and job creation in the Western Cape.

While I agree with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s sentiment in his State of the Nation Address last night, when he said that inefficient ports can compromise economic growth and compromise businesses, he made absolutely no mention of ‘private partners’ for the Port of Cape Town.

While Transnet will work with ‘private partners’ in the ports of Durban and Ngqura, any talk of private sector investment in port operations in the Port of Cape Town, seems to have evaporated and, we hear, is unlikely to materialise within the next two years.

However, at our third Port of Cape Town stakeholder engagement last week, which brought key representatives of the port logistics chain together, Managing Executive of Transnet Port Terminals, Ms. Wandisa Vazi, mentioned the planned upgrade of the Cape Town Container Terminal from manual to a semi-automated operation by upgrading manual crane operations to remote crane operations to optimise operational efficiency.

When I meet with the Chief Executive Officer of Transnet National Port Authority, Pepi Silinga and the Chief Executive Officer of Transnet Port Terminal, Jabu Mdaki, I will therefore:

request clarity on the proposed port automation;

request an explanation as to why the Request For Information, promised last year, for private sector participation in the Multi-Purpose Terminal has been withdrawn; and

request  information on why there has been no announcements about ‘private partners’ for the Port of Cape Town.

Key to unlocking the potential of the Port of Cape Town is making sure critical infrastructure is maintained and that there is investment in new infrastructure.

However, if we look at Transnet Port Terminal’s annual report over the last three years, capital under expenditure amounted to R2.3 billion or almost 30% of its capital budget.

The situation is even worse when it comes to Transnet National Port Authority with capital under expenditure amounting to R4.2 billion over the last three years, or 57% of its capital budget over this period.  

It is critical that we remove obstacles to exports so we can grow the economy and create jobs in the Western Cape.

To ensure this, it is now time to look at privatising the Port of Cape Town.

At the end of the day, when the port works, our economy works in the Western Cape.

Issued by Georgina Maree, Spokesperson for the Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities (Responsible for the Provincial Treasury and the Department of Economic Development and Tourism), 11 February 2022