The Western Cape’s steep curve of confirmed coronavirus infections has forced port authorities to send home staff living in hot spot areas, a Transnet official has confirmed on condition of anonymity.
With up to 14 vessels said to have been queuing outside the port earlier today, all waiting to be given berthing slots, there was plenty of speculation doing the rounds as to the cause of delays.
Suspicions among freight executives that the situation has something to the do with Covid-19 and the rate of infection in and around Cape Town were confirmed by the official from Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) that Freight News managed to reach.
“These are very difficult times for us,” the source said.
“A lot of our employees live in high-risk areas and we’ve had no option other than asking them to stay at home.”
The official added that it had impacted significantly on its operations at large, affecting not only TPT but also Transnet National Ports Authority.
Terry Gale, chairman of the Exporters’ Club Western Cape, has since said that although industry has sympathy for the staffing position in which Transnet finds itself, port officials can at least keep industry updated.
“We have containers going out but no updates coming in.
“We keep hearing that they are closing the port to avoid congestion but we receive no official information.
“I wish they would take us into their confidence and tell us what is going on.
“We are in this together after all.”
Dave McCallum of DAL Agency said all lines were feeling it at the moment.
“We have had to put in all sorts of contingencies as a result of the delays.”
With regard to holdups being caused by shifting personnel between various berths due to staff shortages, McCallum said he could believe it.
“This is purely a personnel issue. There simply aren’t enough people to do the work. You can also not shift staff from Durban to Cape Town because they may not want to work in a hot spot area.”
The Transnet insider said they would issue an official statement on the matter in due course.
Gale said clarity from Transnet would be most welcome.
“You get the idea they’re hiding behind not having to answer to industry through one-on-one resolution.”