Wholesale participation around arresting the decline of South Africa’s logistics sector has certainly reached a turning point, but Transnet remains dogged by persistent gaps in cargo movement, while notching up progress at the same time.
Looking at the 250th edition of the Cargo Movement Update (CMU), Dr Jacob van Rensburg, head of research and development at the South African Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff), acknowledges that “the logistics sector has reached an important marker”.
The latest CMU, compiled by Saaff in conjunction with Business Unity SA, “highlights the power of continuous measurement and tracking progress – adding impetus to the public-private collaborative improvement programme in South Africa’s logistics sector”, Van Rensburg says.
Looking at Transnet’s financial-year results released on September 5, his assessment aligns with that of the port and rail freight utility’s board chair, Dr Andile Sangqu, who said: “Transnet is not yet out of the woods.”
“For the first time in years, however, throughput performance across all major sectors showed improvement, reflecting progress in stabilising operations. Evidence suggests the downward spiral has been arrested,” says Van Rensburg.
Headline volumes speak louder than words – 160.1 metric tonnes for rail freight volumes, 4.09 million TEUs in port handling, 13.37 billion litres on Transnet’s pipeline network, and 803 908 units shipped on the automotive side.
Unfortunately, there’s always a “but”.
“While these outcomes are commendable, the figures also indicate that Transnet fell short of most of its main targets for the period, underscoring the significant distance still to travel in rebuilding network reliability and efficiency over the medium to longer term,” Van Rensburg says.
“On the financial side, losses narrowed by (a decrease of) 74% to R1.9bn – a welcome improvement. However, high debt levels, irregular expenditure, and ongoing legal disputes remain causes for concern.”
Van Rensburg adds that of significant reassurance to industry stakeholders is the marked increase in capital expenditure, up by 44.2% to R24.0bn, particularly the investment in container handling equipment and infrastructure. This commitment is a vital step forward toward restoring confidence and competitiveness in South Africa’s ports.”
He says since the country is already some way into the 2026 financial year and the recent results are from the period ending March 31, ongoing performance improvements since then bode well for, hopefully, another set of positive data next year.
- This is the first instalment in a two-part series on Dr Van Rensburg’s insights. The second instalment, focusing on international matters pertaining to freight, will be posted on Monday, September 15.
