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.