The Democratic Alliance (DA) has urged Transport Minister Barbara Creecy to expedite reforms at South Africa's ports, warning that ongoing inefficiencies continue to undermine economic growth and export competitiveness.
DA member of parliament and spokesperson on transport, Chris Hunsinger, on Tuesday highlighted persistent operational failures, particularly at the Port of Cape Town, during the recent fruit export season.
"Failures at the port cost the fruit sector hundreds of millions of rands in losses and additional transport costs," Hunsinger said.
"While high winds disrupted terminal operations, Transnet was not adequately prepared to recover once suitable operating conditions returned. The inability to anticipate health and safety constraints linked to wind operations, along with poor planning around staffing capacity during the festive period, points to persistent management and contingency planning failures,” he said.
Hunsinger acknowledged some progress under current Transnet leadership, including improved equipment availability and a clearer reform agenda.
"There have been recent improvements in parts of Transnet’s operations, including better equipment availability and a clearer reform agenda under the current leadership. However, progress remains uneven and has not yet translated into consistently reliable port performance. Incremental improvements cannot mask the reality that the logistics system remains structurally weak," Hunsinger said.
He said the challenges extend beyond Cape Town.
South African ports rank among the lowest globally in the latest Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) from the World Bank and S&P Global. In the 2024 rankings covering 403 ports, Cape Town placed 400th, Coega (Ngqura) 402nd, and Durban last at 403rd.
Despite these poor positions, the index noted significant year-on-year improvements at Cape Town and Coega between 2023 and 2024, with Cape Town showing the largest global gain of nearly 240 points, attributed to investments in equipment, warehousing and predictive weather modelling.
"The cumulative cost of Transnet’s failures over the past five years runs into the hundreds of billions of rands, damaging growth, jobs, and investor confidence,” Hunsinger said.
He reiterated his party’s long-standing position that private sector involvement is critical to resolving the crisis.
"The DA has long maintained that private-sector efficiency, capital, and expertise are essential to fixing South Africa’s ports. While the Minister of Transport has initiated important reform steps, the pace of implementation is far too slow, given the scale of the economic damage," Hunsinger said.
Key reforms the party has called for include the appointment of a private partner for the Cape Town bulk terminal, the appointment of private partners at container terminals and the unbundling of the Ports Authority from Transnet.
"Given the urgency of the crisis, all of these steps must be completed in 2026. Private-sector partners must be brought into the Ports of Cape Town and Coega without further delay," he added.
Hunsinger also cautioned against continued reliance on government support without performance gains.
"Transnet cannot continue to rely on ever-increasing government guarantees without sustained performance improvements, or future generations will be saddled with tens of billions of rands in additional debt."
