Cape Town - Despite some some recent improvements the Port of Cape Town continues to face multiple challenges, including backlogs.
Ships continue to spend nearly a week waiting in the bay, which has contributed to a decline in received and shipped containers since 2019.
This emerged during a briefing to the standing committee on finance, economic opportunities and tourism by the provincial Department of Economic Development and Tourism and Transnet on progress in the Port of Cape Town’s container backlogs.
The committee heard that during the current 2021/2022 financial year, the port had lost 96 days in operations due to weather conditions and slow turnover and this has led to many ships simply by-passing the port altogether.
In their presentation to the committee the provincial Department of Economic Development and Tourism said weather conditions and poor equipment can lead to a backlog of more than 1 000 trucks awaiting processing.
Chief director John Peters and departmental business economist Glen Steyn say this has a knock-on effect across the entire supply chain but that they are working closely with the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) and stakeholders to find solutions.
Committee chairperson Deidré Baartman (DA) said: “Ultimately, we need to see innovative solutions expedited, such as the automation of processes, to bring efficiency and reliability to the port.”
Transnet freight rail managing executive Russel Baatjies says the implementation of a night shift at the Bellville Container Terminal (Belcon) has meant that 7 000 trucks are being processed every day so that containers can be transported over the railway system and that this has relieved congestion of roads and the harbour.
However, he said the railway system is woefully underutilised, as the number of containers transported on this line has not increased in the past decade despite expansion of the export industry, particularly in the agri-processing sector, in recent years.
ANC committee member Nomi Nkondlo asked about the challenge of maintenance that has caused some of the backlogs.
The officials from Transnet told the committee that a focus on the procurement and proactive maintenance of equipment, in partnership with manufacturers, has seen improvement in the availability of equipment.
In their presentation to the committee they have shown that adding another mobile harbour crane and two hydrolytic tension units to assist in loading and stabilisation of ships in the port will ensure that the citrus export season will run smoother this year.
The committee was also briefed on the cybersecurity attack that brought the ports across the country to a standstill in July last year.
Transnet information officer Pandelani Munyai said that new measures had been put in place to ensure it never happened again.