'High power team’ trying to resolve port crisis

While Transnet on several occasions last week indicated that it was doing all it could to solve the labour dispute at the Port of Ngqura, by suspending at least 13 disruptive officials in crucial positions and “addressing the backlog”, the portsweare nowhere near out of the woods, sources said. Managing director of DAL Agency, David McCallum, said thus far they were looking at a delay that was costing them around $1.5 million. He said whereas a vessel arriving at the South African coast usually had a turnaround time of about two and half weeks before departing for European ports, it was taking seven weeks this time around. Freight executive Kevin Martin, who is usually virulently critical of Transnet, said: “I believe they have a high-power team working on resolving the strike and are doing what they can but it’s not good enough.” Reflecting on the situation on the ground he added: “Durban harbour certainly hasn’t come to a standstill but it’s also not running full steam ahead, not even close.” Both McCallum and Martin as well as Glenn Delve, national commercial director for MSC, have also commented on problems they believe have deeper roots and that should be urgently addressed to avoid future disruption. “We want to compete with international ports but at the moment we can’t do that. We’re only barely running our ports.” A fundamental part of the problem, they all said, was mismanagement of port assets and its trickledown effect on bottom line profitability. Martin said at a meeting on Friday with key industry concerns Transnet acting CEO Mohammed Mahomedy had been asked why people had not been paid their incentive bonuses – a primary reason for the go-slow – and whether it was cash-flow issues or bad management. “He assured me that Transnet has no cash-flow issues.” “The only conclusion one can come to then is that it’s bad management,” Martin said. In a recent letter to FTW, Delve also said that port inefficiencies were “owing to lack of investments in appropriate equipment, thus costing the shipping lines colossal amounts”. Delve stressed that “it’s about time emphasis is laid on the efficiencies within the port system to grow the economy of the country”.