Portnet to appeal against monopoly ruling IN A resounding victory for private enterprise, Durban's harbour carriers have won their case against Portnet's cartage monopoly.
Judgement handed down in the Supreme Court last week declared that there were no grounds for Portnet to continue to prevent private hauliers from entering the terminal based on a kilometre restriction.
Portnet has however lodged an application to appeal against the judgement, which means that the status quo remains and Portnet will continue to be the sole road haulier of goods being transported to and from the container terminal and anywhere within a 110 kilometre radius of the port until the the outcome of the appeal is handed down.
The Kwa-Zulu Natal Association of Freight Forwarders, of which the formerly independent Durban Harbour Carriers Association is now an integral part, issued the challenge by applying for a Supreme Court ruling late last year. Harbour Carriers chairman, Paul Rayner, is delighted by the outcome, but disappointed in Portnet's decision to appeal.
We see the appeal by Portnet as a delaying tactic. And in the interim the importer and exporter will pay the cost.
He should be allowed to go to whom he pleases which may mean paying less and getting a better service. Rayner believes that in an open market situation, the capacity of private hauliers to fill the gap at present would be low. Portnet will still have the bulk of the market because of operational constraints.
But the ratio would change over a period of time if Portnet can't deliver on service and price, which is as it should be. That's how the private sector works, he told FTW.
Port secretary Lesley Pupuma says that Portnet is not opposed to competition. But until we have all our systems in place a Ôfree-for-all' will result in congestion, theft and possible labour unrest.
