Cape Town - The Citrus Growers Association (CGA) has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to provide an update on the government’s short-term plan to fix the problems at South African ports, including the Port of Cape Town, in his State of the Nation Address (Sona).
During a visit to the port of Cape Town in June last year, the president announced the establishment of the National Ports Authority as an independent, wholly-owned subsidiary of Transnet, to revamp the country’s ports.
Ahead of the Sona, CGA chief executive Justin Chadwick said immediate intervention was desperately required at both the Durban and Cape Town ports to ensure citrus reached key markets on time in 2022.
“It is critical that vessels move to and from the ports to global markets with constancy, regularity and reliability in 2022 as this is an essential part of the success in supplying fruit to receivers and maximising industry returns,” Chadwick said.
He said sufficient funds must be allocated to Transnet in this year’s budget to invest in critical equipment and personnel to ensure an immediate improvement in performance and productivity at ports’ container terminals; particularly Durban pier 1, Durban pier 2 and Cape Town’s container terminals.
Last year the citrus industry exported a record-breaking 163 million cartons, sustaining 120 000 jobs and generating R25 billion in export revenue.
Speaking at the third Port of Cape Town stakeholder meeting, which brought together key representatives of the port logistics chain, Transnet port terminals managing executive Wandisa Vazi spoke of the challenges faced in processing containers due to weather conditions, saying “the peak wind season occurs around the same time as the peak deciduous fruit export season”.
Fresh Produce Exporters’ Forum operational manager Werner van Rooyen told the meeting that growth in fruit exports through the Port of Cape Town was anticipated, and said: “If we get the port working efficiently, our exports can grow exponentially.”
Transnet’s Port of Cape Town manager Rajesh Dana said he welcomed the commitment to form a dedicated unit within the National Ports Authority, to focus specifically on capital expenditure and infrastructure investment.
Premier Alan Winde also commented on the ports issue statin that the Port of Cape Town, “which is also run through a national entity, is not functioning as it should, with inefficiencies impacting exports from our region”.
“We need a modern, and efficient port if we are going to grow the economy and create jobs. Getting this fixed should be a priority for the national government.”