The chairperson of the South Africa Transporters Alliance (Sata), Derick Ongansie, has expressed his concern about last Friday’s article published in Freight News: ‘Port of Cape Town harbour carrier update: TPT vs Sata.’
He writes: “We respectfully request a retraction of the headline ‘TPT vs Sata’ and clarification of certain statements attributed to Sata representatives.”
Ongansie says: “The headline phrase ‘TPT vs Sata’ suggests an adversarial relationship between Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) and Sata.
“This portrayal does not accurately reflect our collaborative efforts. As a transport representative organization, Sata is committed to working cooperatively with Transnet, the Western Cape Government, the City of Cape Town, and all stakeholders to address challenges at the Port of Cape Town and within the broader logistics value chain.
“The article references comments allegedly made by myself, criticising the truck booking system and expressing dissatisfaction with TPT's responsiveness to concerns.
“While Sata acknowledges ongoing challenges with the current booking system, we wish to clarify that our stance has been one of constructive engagement. We have consistently advocated for the integration of TPT and Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) systems to verify valid bookings – a move we have supported since 2022.”
Ongansie adds that Sata’s “primary disappointment lies in the current manual process of capturing registration numbers”. “We believe that implementing a digital scanner system would better serve the intended purpose by enhancing efficiency and accuracy.
“In light of the above, we kindly request the following:
- Retraction of the Headline: Replace ‘TPT vs Sata’ with a title that accurately reflects the collaborative efforts between TPT and Sata.
- Correction of Statements: Amend the article to reflect Sata's actual position, emphasising our support for system integration and our advocacy for digital solutions to improve the booking process.
“We believe that these changes will provide readers with a more accurate understanding of the collaborative efforts underway to enhance operations at the Port of Cape Town.”
- Freight News responds:
In the interests of ethical conduct, Freight News does not retract or change headlines. Even though we are an online publication, we uphold the same tenets of journalism that print titles subscribe to – not changing content so that the record reflects what was written at the time.
However, we do update posts when a strong case is made for interpretive differences. The headline in question was based on a conversation I had with Mr Ongansie. I have since explained to him why we cannot change the headline, as it would be tantamount to changing the record.
Nevertheless, in the interest of fostering a strong relationship with Sata, we are printing Mr Ongansie’s letter verbatim.
We realise that although there may be sub-sector differences within the freight industry, Transnet, Sata and Freight News share the same ideals: improvement of the country’s ports.
Sincerely
Eugene Goddard
Editor.
