New equipment installation is continuing apace at the Port of Cape Town, and exporters are already seeing results.
Terry Gale, chairman of Exporters Western Cape, says that of the first batch of nine secondhand rubber tyre gantries (RTGs) that were procured for the port to improve container handling, four are already in service, while the remaining five, which were used for training, were scheduled to enter operations by the end of Week 36 (the first week of September).
“The terminal has already observed a reduction in truck turn times since the start of the week of their operation,” says Gale.
“The second batch of nine RTGs has been fully assembled. The Liebherr commissioning team will now complete the electrical work, painting, and installation of spreaders before beginning endurance testing, which takes place under live operational conditions.
“These units, along with the third batch, are expected to enter service more quickly, as operator training and GPS mapping have already been completed.”
Cape Town has been consistently plagued by the breakdown of its existing fleet of RTGs as well as other mission-critical equipment due to years of underspending on infrastructure and mismanagement related to state capture. This has led to significant losses and additional expenses for exporters of agricultural goods in the Western Cape, Northern Cape and parts of the Eastern Cape, particularly since 2020.
The latest port productivity data suggests that the sustained hard work, industry collaboration, and lobbying to improve expensive and damaging bottlenecks at the port are paying off.
In terms of reaching productivity targets, Week 35 of 2025 saw the port slightly exceed its target for twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) handled (14 000) by 163 TEUs or 1.1% and performed on average 15 gross crane moves per hour (GCH), with a target of 19.
While this is a significant improvement from the 12-14 GCH from a few years back, it is still short of the world benchmark of 23 or 24.
The week’s 35.5 ship working hours (SWH) were also still short of the target of 40.
Gale said the port’s final batch of 10 new RTGs was scheduled to arrive on September 5 and berth on September 6.
“Transnet has accelerated delivery by more than two months, and these units are set to be deployed early in the new year, in time to support the second half of the deciduous season.”
Dr Jacob van Rensburg, head of research and development at the South African Association of Freight Forwarders, said Cape Town’s port throughput had benefited from the appointment of a number of knowledgeable and efficient staff at Transnet, some of whom had left the utility during the state capture years, but who had now returned. In addition, communication between Transnet’s different business units had also improved, as well as the utility’s communication with the rest of the logistics industry.
However, to fully optimise port operations, he said the port needed significant infrastructure upgrades, which would necessitate partnerships outside of Transnet.
“For instance, the container yard at Cape Town should stack four (containers) high instead of three, so the entire yard must be refurbished, and neither Transnet nor the Treasury have the kind of funds needed for that kind of investment.”
