Concessioning wheels need to be cranked up

Private sector still waiting in the wings
ALAN PEAT
THERE ARE still no dates or details attached to government’s proposal for port concessioning – although trumpet blasts heralding the imminent privatisation of the likes of the Durban Container Terminal (DCT) were being heard as long as four years ago. And back then, a herd of port operators from as far afield as UK, Europe and the Far East – as well as a local contingent – all had senior representatives breathing down the necks of the government negotiators, and with enough money in their hip pockets to finance takeovers and developments of the most attractive port facilities. In January of 2004, the department of public enterprises assured FTW that concessioning in Durban was “imminent” – and August was the month whispered for statements of interest to be submitted. But the government’s plans to “privatise” these concerns foundered, when the port workers’ unions right up to Cosatu level stated their outright refusal to accept anything but Sapo control - and used the national framework agreement to justify special talks at government level. This naturally slapped a delay on privatisation until these negotiations were concluded, and for the next year concessioning of the container terminals at the main SA ports was on-again, off-again, on-again, like a stuck needle on a record. Finally, by early 2005, statements started to be made by government and port authority officials that it had been decided to shift the concessioning goal posts from the private sector having outright leasing of the terminal, to a public/private partnership, with SA Port Operations (Sapo)/National Ports Authority (NPA) retaining a “significant” interest. Mid-year, minister of public enterprises Alec Erwin reaffirmed that the two port divisions, NPA and Sapo, would remain state-owned - but indicated that the concessioning of Durban’s Pier One Container Terminal remained a definite possibility. Erwin said the door also remained open for joint ventures between Transnet and private enterprise And that’s as far as it’s got up to now, according to Dave Rennie of Ocean Africa Container Lines and chairman of the Container Liner Operators’ Forum (Clof). “It’s as the minister said,” he told FTW, “although the new name for it is private sector partnerships (PSPs) – where the private sector makes the investments, but shares the operational control with Sapo. “But we don’t have any details on how and when this will be applied, nor what components of what businesses will be put out in this way.” With nothing fleshed out and not much clarity on the matter, all that business can do is sit back and watch and wait. “But,” said Rennie, “the private sector would really like to participate – and we do believe we could add value to the whole process.”