The Northern Cape–Saldanha and Eastern Cape (Gqeberha) corridors are pivotal to South Africa's bulk commodity export landscape. With their strategic importance, ongoing investments in these corridors can drive export growth, support diversification and stimulate broader economic development, solidifying their roles as essential trade routes.According to Kevin Changoo, co-CEO of Pindulo VDM, the sector still faces significant challenges, including underdeveloped infrastructure, regulatory inconsistencies and limited access for smaller market participants. “These issues require innovative, scalable solutions to ensure inclusive growth and sustainability. Improved road and rail connectivity to ports like Saldanha, Cape Town and Gqeberha is essential,” he said.Aligned with this vision, Pindulo VDM has taken substantial steps this year to expand its back-of-port facilities in Cape Town and Gqeberha while also increasing capacity at Saldanha. These upgrades are strategically designed to handle the growing throughput driven by Pindulo’s patented skip and tilter technology. This innovation has revolutionised port operations, boosting efficiency, reducing costs and advancing sustainable logistics practices.Speaking to Freight News, Changoo emphasised the need for collaborative efforts across public and private sectors to address existing barriers. “Our investments aim to not only improve our operational capacity but also contribute to strengthening South Africa’s trade corridors, ensuring they remain competitive and inclusive,” he said. "Our name Pindulo means ‘the answer’ or ‘solution finder’. Our patented skip system is one example of such a solution. Using this system, we are able to achieve a 71.3% improvement in vessel loading efficiency at Saldanha, allowing us to load 11.5 vessels per month per berth compared to 6.71 vessels with traditional methods. This equates to an additional 263 000 tons per berth per month or approximately 3.156 million tons per berth annually. These efficiency gains reduce vessel turnaround times, optimise throughput, and alleviate quayside congestion, directly benefiting our customers and key stakeholders like Transnet.”He said the company’s technology was tried and tested. “Pindulo Logistics utilises the Pindulo VDM patented skip and tilter technology at the Port of Walvis Bay. Over the past 16 months, they have successfully loaded our 19th vessel, with the technology revolutionising and disrupting bulk export operations for Namport. This innovation has achieved a 350% efficiency improvement, redefining how bulk commodities are handled and exported.”According toChangoo, sea freight challenges, including slow vessel loading rates and limited port capacity, remain significant hurdles across corridors. Weather-related disruptions also impact operations. “Our skip system mitigates these issues by ensuring faster, more reliable loading with zero spillage or emissions.”He said the use of the skip system provided much-needed capacity as well as more cost-effective export channels. Additionally, the added berth capacity enabled ports to diversify their export commodity range, an essential risk mitigation measure during f luctuating commodity cycles. This diversification strengthens the resilience of the logistics ecosystem, ensuring it can adapt to market demands effectively.Looking ahead, Pindulo VDM has plans to expand its footprint across sub-Saharan Africa, delivering its solution to improvecorridor efficiency. LV
