Ray Smuts AS THE port of Durban swung into action to clear the backlog at its container terminal - due in part to last week's two-day Cosatu strike - Cape Town's container terminal was geared to rise to the occasion in the event of vessels being diverted. At week's end it was not immediately clear whether vessels would in fact divert and if so, how many, but FTW understands the possibility has been raised by some shipping lines. Problem though, as one source puts it, most of the Durban-bound cargo is destined for Gauteng and were it to come to Cape Town would Spoornet have the capacity to handle the volumes? "It is probably better for the vessels to sit and wait outside Durban for three or four days," said Cape Town terminal manager Ian Bouwer. Bouwer said if container ships were in fact diverted to Cape Town the terminal was able to work six gangs rather than the usual four-and-a- half day in, day out, in addition to which all equipment was operational. The Cosatu strike aimed at the Government's privatisation initiatives - Transnet included - came and went without so much as a whimper in the Western Cape. Cape Town port manager Sanjay Govan and his Saldanha counterpart Eugene Kearns reported that no operations had been disrupted in the strike in which no more than 12% of some 1 800 workers in both ports participated.
