A novel partnership between the export-oriented fruit value chain, Western Cape government and Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) has provided a solution for the power point shortage that has long plagued the port during peak fruit export seasons.
Aimed at enhancing operations at the Cape Town Container Terminal, the establishment of two high-capacity generators at the terminal was jointly funded by the Western Cape Department of Economic Development & Tourism, the agriculture business chamber Agbiz, grower organisations Hortgro and the South African Table Grape Industry, the Fresh Produce Exporters' Forum, and listed agribusiness, KAL Group.
Not only do the generators increase the terminal’s capacity to handle containers during container volume surges during peak export weeks, they also provide a separate reefer stack that can be loaded during periods of high wind.
Moreover, TPT has indicated its willingness to explore similar projects in future.
The partnership participants and Transnet said in a joint statement that the project “will contribute to improving the terminal’s overall output during the peak deciduous fruit export season”.
“We look forward to seeing the positive impact this will have on fresh produce exports from the Western Cape and to continuing our collaboration with the Western Cape Government and Transnet Port Terminals to drive growth and development in the sector,” said Agbiz CEO, Theo Boshoff.
“This project benefits exporters operating out of the Cape Town Container Terminal directly and serves as a pilot project for future initiatives. We can apply the lessons learned to pave the way for future PSP (public sector partnership) projects between Transnet Port Terminals and cargo owners.”
According to Boshoff, the project was initiated and implemented after TPT requested generators and mobile plug points during ongoing talks about improving efficiency at the port, which was last year ranked the worst in the World Bank Container Port Performance Index.
Western Cape minister of agriculture, economic development and tourism, Ivan Meyer, said the project would “substantially reduce the risk of delays in large volumes of perishable cargo movement that is associated with disruptive events, such as extended periods of high wind speeds”.
According to Transnet Port Terminal Western Cape managing executive, Oscar Borchards, the parastatal was “committed to implementing continual improvements that can assist exports out of Cape Town”.
“Our focus is to continue strengthening our relations with all our stakeholders within the entire value chain. This project is one of the strides we have been making through collaboration with our stakeholders and we appreciate the spirit with which it has been executed with the fruit industry.
“Projects like these very much align with our commitment to efficiently deliver fresh cargo from our customers to the global markets timeously. We are excited to explore similar initiatives in future,” Borchards said.
