Time for Gauteng shippers to embrace change

NILESH NAVALSHANKAR can
see no reason why more South Africans, especially those in Gauteng, are not making use of Maputo harbour and its facilities.
“They know we have the capabilities here to handle anything. They know we have
the answer to port congestion
in their country. They afford us
a hearing when we approach them. But little seems to happen.
“They are, indeed, a stubborn lot. They continue to accept the congestion problems, the hold-ups that exist in their country. I have
been told they are too traditional in their dealings. It’s time they looked toward change, and benefited from it.”
Frustration, says the commercial director of ships agents and clearing and forwarding agency Mocargo, is his biggest problem. “I did a couple of free jobs for South African companies. We handled their consignments from loading point to destination, and did it without any charge, just to show them how efficiently we can do it. All went well, but there was no comeback from either party.
“Yet here we are as a company whose business increased 45% last year, and in the first four months of this year we have jumped 145% already. Doesn’t that tell you something of what is happening
in this rapidly improving port?”
Mocargo, he says, handled more than 250 ships last year, with an average of 20 vessels on a monthly basis. Placing watchmen on board berthed vessels is now part of the company’s service while negotiations are in progress for the implementation of a stevedoring operation.
“We’ve taken the direction of making our staff shareholders in the business,” says Navalshankar. “It gives them the additional incentive to give of their best.”