Truckers 'bribing their way' to the front of the queue at Durban port

Congestion at Durban port
– allegedly due to inoperable
port equipment and low staff
productivity – is impacting
transporters who are losing
customers and facing the
closure of their businesses.
And desperate to have their
containers processed, some
transporters are allegedly
paying bribes to jump 18-
to 24-hour port queues,
according to industry sources.
Local transporter and
member of the Durban
Harbour Carriers’ Association
(DHCA), Kevin Martin,
told FTW that industry
representatives had met
with port management
three months ago to address
congestion problems but there
had been little improvement.
He said recently queues
had stretched all the way to
Southway Mall in Edwin
Swales Road as port staff
had apparently attended a
Women’s Day event while at
least five vessels, already five
days late, awaited berthing.
“We have been in
negotiations with them for
three months and literally
they had until September 1 to
have all their ducks in a row.
We have been inundated with
calls from very irate members.”
He said that Transnet was
“enriching themselves on
their lack of performance” by
charging storage fees for noncollection
of containers.
“In 2002 the average
transporter did four to six
loads per 12-hour shift and
today he is lucky if he does
one.”
He said the situation was
so desperate that bribes were
allegedly changing hands.
“It is in their interests to
fill A Check up and to make
people desperate. We talk
of the R50 queue and the
R20 queue and there are
arrangements where people
bypass A Check completely.”
Martin said it seemed
as if Transnet was cutting
maintenance costs because
about 50 out of 113 straddles
and seven of 19 ship-to-shore
cranes were standing idle.
Seaboard International
Trading Company CEO Peter
Newton said a shortage of
equipment due to a lack of
maintenance and labour
issues were the two major
factors contributing to the
underperformance of the DCT.
Other sources who asked
not to be named said the
backlogs were resulting in
firms shutting their doors.
“Transporters are facing
huge problems because of
port congestion. We are also
aware many transporters are
paying their way through,
meaning that on arrival
their trucks go into the
terminal without waiting in
queues. Other transporters
are disadvantaged as they
sometimes wait up to 24
hours before being loaded,”
one source said.
Durban Container
Terminal
general
manager,
Brenda
Magqwaka,
said Transnet
Port
Terminals
(TPT) had
developed
strategies
that had
significantly
relieved
congestion
on Bayhead
road,
including
seven-day volume forecasts
to predict periods of possible
congestion.
“This allows the
terminal to appeal to
road transporters to bring
volumes in off-peak times,”
she said.
A traffic monitoring
command centre equipped
with CCTV monitors of
strategic hotspots had also
been set up to enable a
rapid response to counter
congestion.
“Empty containers to be
shipped abroad have been
targeted as ideal volumes
to be buffer stacked at the
existing DCT truck stage.
For full export containers a
secured area was identified at
the KGX stack in Kingsrest
railyard. If the DCT truck
stage is full, trucks are
directed to the truck staging
area at Kingsrest railyard.
Pier 1 has also been used to
give trucks access to the south
quay when possible,” she said.
TPT’s cargo handling
fleet includes 250 pieces of
equipment, according to
Magqwaka.
“As is normal with a fleet of
this size, there are a number
of units that have reached
the end of their economic life
which manifests in reliability
challenges. Twenty percent of
the straddle
fleet is in this
category, and
because the
utilisation
of straddle
carriers is
very high, the
impact of low
reliability is
acutely felt.”
Magqwaka
said TPT
was buying
replacement
straddle
carriers
which would
arrive in mid 2017, while
out-of-service machines were
being repaired and would
be operational by the end of
2016. She added that ship to
shore cranes were “subject to
an aggressive replacement
strategy and a very effective
maintenance schedule.”
TPT took allegations of
bribery “very seriously” and
had addressed the matter with
staff as well as engaged with
the HCA to request prima
facie evidence. she added.
“To date we have not
received any,” she said.
Evidence of bribery can be
reported on TPT’s toll free
tip offs anonymous hotline
0800 003 056.
INSERT & CAPTION
A traffic monitoring
command centre
equipped with CCTV
monitors of strategic
hotspots has been set
up.
– Brenda Magqwaka