Port tariffs under the spotlight

Government has plans to appoint a single transport regulator and to reduce cross-subsidisation in transport pricing as part of a package of “critical” mediumterm strategic framework (MTSF), according to the 2014 medium term budget policy statement. The statement was issued by the national treasury to support the finance minister Nhlanhla Nene’s medium term budget speech. It lists the “critical” interventions as including: • “Expanding energy supply through public and private investment, including procuring 2.5GW of privately supplied baseload electricity and signing cogeneration agreements for over 800MW to be added to the national grid. • “Expanding rail capacity for coal exports between Mpumalanga and the Richards Bay Coal Terminal, building a new heavy-haul rail line from the Waterberg region, and increasing port capacity for iron exports via Saldanha and the Northern Cape corridor. • “Enhancing the performance of sea ports and inland terminals, revising and consolidating port charges, establishing a single transport regulator and reducing crosssubsidisation in transport pricing. • “Enabling immigration reform to encourage people with skills to work in South Africa”.