More criticism is pouring in from private-sector executives of South Africa’s cargo community after the most recent Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) ranked four of the country’s key ocean hubs among the bottom ten out of 403 global ports.
Last week – and not for the first time – the metrics used to compile the CPPI were called into question by several luminaries from logistics, one of them being Professor Jan Havenga, who teaches the subject at the University of Stellenbosch.
Not holding back, he told Ciaran Ryan from The Writer’s Room: “The World Bank index has many problems and requires improvement.”
Dr Jacob van Havenga, head of Research and Development at the South African Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff), also pointed out that the CPPI should be acknowledged for what it does and does not measure.
This Monday, Lance Pullan of Linernet said he thought the CPPI lacked nuance and the ability to create in-depth perspective of the specifics related to crucial ports such as Durban.
Ranked at the bottom of the pile, the Port of Durban has suffered reputational damage because of the index, eThekwini’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO Palesa Phili has said.
In her comments to Ryan, she hinted at the index failing to consider unique aspects of port operations, such as distinct geographical location, size, cargo types and trade dynamics – dynamics also mentioned by Pullan.
He specifically focused on the geo-strategic location of Durban in relation to other ports and the market fundamentals ostensibly omitted from the ‘measurement’ of southern Africa’s biggest port.
“All markets are different and deserving of proper measurement.
“What’s unusual about Durban is that it is often the last port on a long rotation. A vessel from Asia, for example, will stop at various points along the Asian coast before terminating at Durban.”
This aspect of the liner trade, where one port is used to also do ship chandling, for example, ought to be properly considered, Pullan says.
“The same goes for vessels coming here from Europe. By the time they get to Durban before turning around to head home, they offload everything and reload from zero.”
The World Bank’s CPPI, he said, was a little simplistic in its evaluation of a port’s ability based on baseline metrics predominantly including vessel sizes and waiting time.
The lack of port densification on southern Africa’s coastline, compared to Europe and Asia, the impact of notoriously inclement sea conditions and manifold other aspects appeared to be glossed over by the index, he said.
“A lot of the waiting time recorded isn’t necessarily at berth,” Pullan said, and he’s not alone in this view.
Saaff’s own data-aggregation tool, which it compiles along with Business Unity SA, has consistently recorded significant waterside improvements at the country’s ports since at least July.
Admittedly, the CPPI’s findings are based on older data, perhaps flagging the relevance of an index not using any data from 2025.
“We’ve seen it before,” Pullan said.
“It (the index) doesn’t look at things like a vessel coming here and waiting at anchorage without the option of rather going to another nearby port. It doesn’t look deeply enough at regional issues.
“It takes volumes, number of vessels and waiting time and draws broad analogies.
“It doesn’t look at the interchange of volumes, and because of it, doesn’t see how much work is being done in that time.”
As a result, finer details are missing from the CPPI, Pullan said.
“It’s a bit like looking at the world through one eye.”
