South African importers and exporters are increasingly exposed to disruption, not only from port congestion, but from growing volatility and tighter regulatory scrutiny across the freight chain.
Given the challenges that supply-chain industry stakeholders have had to cope with, mostly to the detriment of trade, freight forwarding business owner, Taylor Marais, is not alone in this view.
According to the co-founder of Tidan Tides Logistics, while congestion remains a headline issue, the more immediate risk for manufacturers, retailers and industrial shippers, lies in unpredictable vessel schedules, fragmented handovers and documentation errors often identified only after arrival.
“Cargo can move from ‘on track’ to ‘at risk’ very quickly,” says Marais.
“When vessel windows shift or cut-offs change, planning and delivery commitments are immediately affected. The biggest failures happen when no single party owns the shipment end-to-end.”
He contends that many of the most costly delays at South African ports are driven not by missing paperwork, but by misaligned documentation across invoices, packing lists, permits and transport documents, triggering inspections and clearance holds.
“There is far less tolerance for post-arrival corrections,” Marais adds.
“Classification, declared use and end-use are being scrutinised upfront, with clear audit trails expected.”
The risk is amplified for high-value or specialised cargo such as vehicles, machinery and industrial equipment, where regulatory exposure, inspections and storage build-up can escalate costs quickly.
Marais’ sentiments are share by the company’s other co-founder, Lorraine Candy.
She says misalignment between origin and destination partners is a recurring issue.
“Export legs may run smoothly, but import-side requirements aren’t always confirmed early enough. Once cargo lands, shipments become reactive.”
She predicts that schedule volatility, uneven port performance and stricter enforcement are expected over the next 12-18 months, so businesses that treat compliance and coordination as part of planning, rather than a scramble after arrival, are better positioned to avoid disruption.
“Technology gives visibility,” Candy says, “but people still prevent disruptions by intervening early and clarifying intent before issues escalate.”
