Decision on TNPA tariff by December 20

The Ports Regulator in Durban has just received the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) reply to the port users’ comments on the proposed 18.06% tariff increase for the financial year 2012/13. “It was somewhat later than we expected,” said Riad Khan, CEO of the PR, “but we are confident we will be able to make our decision by December 20.” There were 22 private sector submissions received by the PR, of which seven were classified as confidential, Khan told FTW. Those made public on the PR website (www.portsregulator.org) were: Anglo American; Busa; Cape Chamber of Commerce; Diving School; Forestry SA; FPEF; JA Bremner cc; Maersk Line & Safmarine; National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa); Saaff; SA Association of Ships Operators and Agents (Saasoa); SA Petroleum Industries Association (Sapia); SA Shippers Council (SASC); Shell; and Xpanse. But all of them had a common trend – that the application by TNPA for an 18.06% tariff increase was far and away above the current inflation rate of about 5.5%; that it would have a negative impact on the cost of doing business for the already hard-pressed export/import, freight and transport industry sectors; that it would render SA’s global exporter industries uncompetitive; that it was unfair to allow what was claimed to be an inefficient parastatal to charge that much more for poor service; and that allowing the TNPA to build in guaranteed profit to its costing model for the new tariff was unacceptable.