Port concessioning tenders ‘imminent’

LEONARD NEILL
TENDERS FOR the concessioning of the Durban Container Terminal (DCT) are imminent, according to the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE). Preparation of the tenders is at an advanced stage, and the department expects to have these available before the end of next month.
A recent reshuffle of senior DPE staff - including the resignation of former port restructuring project manager Richard Goode - delayed the process at the end of last year.
A department official was however keen to point out that the concessioning for a period of up to 30 years should not be seen as placing the terminal in isolation from national port restructuring, as many outside sources believed.
“The restructuring of the terminal remains a strategic imperative of the National Ports Authority (NPA) which controls the upgrading of container capacity. The efficiency and productivity at the various terminals at the country’s main ports fall under the NPA,” the spokesman said.
This authority is currently overseeing the introduction of new cranes into the Durban Container Terminal.
According to figures released by the department, Durban is currently recording 16 moves per crane hour. By way of comparison, the port of Dar es Salaam has increased from 14 to 20 since privatisation. Even more dramatic, moves at JNPT in India jumped from 15 per crane hour to 26 after privatisation.
The department’s labour relations division has agreed that South Africa’s port operations lag behind international standards in terms of efficiency. To compound this, says a division spokesman, the country’s maritime trade is growing by between 8 - 9% annually.