Questions were raised on the National Ports Authority’s (NPA) downward revision of its tariff increase application for the year 2018/19 during public hearings held across the country recently.
In the NPA’s previous tariff application it had indicated that an increase of 23% was required for 2018/19, however this had been reduced in its official application to 8.5%.
Stakeholders had noted this and asked the NPA why this had happened.
The NPA pointed out that this was because the economy was not doing as well as anticipated.
“Each time the economy doesn’t show any growth, as an organisation we have responded by reviewing our plans and cost basis as well as our CAPEX [capital expenditure] programme,” said an NPA spokesperson.
However, a statement by the Ports Regulator of South Africa (PRSA) observed that the NPA was optimistic that it would begin to see some turnaround based on the last few months of the current financial year.
During the hearing, the NPA had also stated that, with regard to cargo dues in its tariff methodology, it would be favouring manufactured goods and aimed to move away from a dependency on exporting raw goods.
According to the authority, the base of the tariff strategy will be to have cost reflective tariffs reflecting a user pay principle.
The NPA stated that the tariff process would determine what was in the public interest and what would benefit the economy.
“Everyone who utilises the tariff will have access to the discount. Furthermore, everyone will know what the tariff is and it will be both transparent and fair,” the NPA spokesperson added.
