Swazi shippers stick with Durban over Maputo

The port of Maputo may be physically closer to Swaziland than Durban Port, but exporters say they will stick to the latter where more direct shipping routes and relatively better operational efficiency translate into time savings for them. At a meeting of exporters taking advantage of the African Growth and Opportunities Act (Agoa), which permits Swazi goods to enter the US market duty-free, Dexter Fonseka, shipping manager for the garment manufacturer Tex Ray Swaziland, said his experiences were similar to other Swazi firms exporting textiles. “The Maputo Port is closer to Swaziland but the system is not good enough to ship out of Mozambique. Vessels from Durban to the US are faster. It takes only 22 days to ship cargo to the US. Through Maputo exports must be transhipped to Durban or Dar es Salaam, and they are delayed if the ships do not arrive from Maputo in time to meet the ship to the US,” Fonseka said. As for other destinations beside the US, he said, “Imports and exports from Maputo are not working for manufacturers because not many shipping lines are using this route.” Other shippers say they face language barriers in Maputo they do not encounter in Durban. “If you do business in Maputo you need a translator and you definitely have to have your own translator, someone you can trust. I had a translator once who went behind my back. I found he was arranging bribes with people at the port – I won’t say who – so he would pocket some of the money after telling me it was necessary to pay off this person,” related one shipper. Other shippers said they felt Maputo was improving but was still a secondtier facility compared to Durban. “It’s surprising because Maputo is a capital city, but Maputo (port) is like a regional airport and Durban is like an international hub airport – except for the King Shaka airport there, which you can forget. Use the Jo’burg airport,” said one exporter who received knowing laughter from other shippers.