NPA focuses on lowering the cost of doing business

KEVIN MAYHEW SOUTH AFRICA’S ports have posted major savings for their clients through tariff cost reforms, a move that has already put R896m back into the economy through savings, says media relations manager of the National Ports Authority, Donald Kau. “Our most pressing immediate requirement is to address imbalances between port dues and cargo dues while lowering the cost of doing business overall. “Our whole focus is to achieve world standards at the seven existing ports that we operate, and R14bn in capital expenditure has been earmarked for the next five years to achieve the necessary service levels through infrastructure maintenance and provision,” says Kau. Three ports - Saldanha, Port Elizabeth and East London - are already ISO 14001 compliant and all seven ports have met the ISPS code for security. “This included an investment of over R100m for training personnel and installation of new equipment over the past 24 months,” he told FTW. The NPA will stick to maintaining tariff increases that are below inflation despite all its initiatives, Kau added. Along with it, the company boasts the highest percentage of female technical cadre employees of any port authority in the world. And these posts are not merely clerical, but include female tug pilots and other essential functions that are traditionally the domain of men throughout the world. This year it was the first within the Transnet group to publish a sustainability report. The past year has been peppered with achievement. In May the new car terminal was opened in Durban harbour, the go-ahead was given for a 10 million ton expansion of the Richards Bay Coal Terminal while a R2bn dry dock will begin taking shape in the northern Natal bulk port. Five new tugs for various ports were commissioned as well as the deepening of the quay walls in East London. In the immediate future, the widening of Durban harbour entrance will commence as will expansion of the Cape Town container terminal. “Along with this we are constantly monitoring the capacity of Spoornet and South African Port Operations to make sure that we are not operating in isolation and creating bottlenecks for other players in the logistics chain,” Kau added.