TPT tariffs to be regulated?

It is possible that Transnet

Port Terminals (TPT)

may eventually fall under

the ambit of a regulator,

according to

Mahesh Fakir,

the SA Ports

Regulator’s

CEO.

This after

the regulator

granted the

Transnet

National

Ports

Authority

(TNPA) a zero

average port

tariff increase

for the

2016/17 financial year after

it had applied for 5.9%.

But the freight

industry was almost

immediately thrown into

a state of shock when

the unregulated TPT

pushed up its terminal

charges by 9% – effectively

undoing the benefit of the

unchanged TNPA port

tariff.

Right away that led to

the port users

asking: Why

is TPT not

regulated?

The answer,

according to

Fakir, is that

the regulator’s

role is defined

in terms of

the National

Ports Act

(NPA) –

section 29

and onwards.

“We

are the regulator of

infrastructure,” he told

FTW. “Our mandate

does not extend to port

operators.”

The NPA created TNPA

as a monopoly, he added.

And, to achieve checks and

balances, a regulator was

also appointed to oversee

this monopoly.

The question that arose

from this was: As TPT

is effectively a quasimonopoly,

is there any

chance that it may also

eventually fall under the

regulator’s control?

And the answer is a

glimmer of hope for a

freight industry that gets

hammered every year by

tariff increases that usually

far exceed the annual

inf lation rate.

“As far as I know,” Fakir

said, “the minister of

transport, Dipuo Peters,

and her department are

looking at creating what it

terms a ‘single transport

economic regulator (Ster)’.

“Within that they may

look at all the different

sectors in transport. And

TPT may come into that.”

INSERT & CAPTION

Minister Dipuo Peters

and her department

are looking at

creating what it

terms a ‘single

transport economic

regulator.