Transnet is determined to come up with a plan to align workers’ shifts across its different entities in an effort to improve efficiency. Speaking at a business strategy meeting in Cape Town recently Pamela Yoyo, Cape Town Terminal manager, said the shift issue was highly contentious.
“There are a lot of complaints about the shifts and the shift changes from customers who are very frustrated with it,” she said.
Because shifts were not aligned between Transnet Port Terminals (TPT), Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) and Transnet Freight Rail (TFR,) productivity often suffered with port users complaining about time being wasted.
“We understand that this is having an impact on customers to the holding company is addressing the issues to try and see if the shift pattern in the entire organisation can be moved to be one.”
Understandably, she said, this was a mammoth undertaking to align the shifts of all TPT, TFR and TNPA employees at all of the country’s ports. “For now, in Cape Town we have initiated interphases between ourselves, TFR and TNPA to minimise the impact of misaligned shifts.”
But, she said, port users could look forward to aligned shifts as this was an initiative currently under way within Transnet.
A definite timeline for implementation was however not yet available. Julani Dube, general manager for KZN container operations at the Port of Durban’s container terminal, said change management was ongoing within Transnet and advised industry to talk to their local port management about challenges around Transnet shifts.
“The shift pattern has been negotiated at a national level by Transnet but nothing is stopping us at a local level from making sure that where we see gaps we address those while the negotiations are under way,” he said. “In Durban we have undertaken to grab the lowhanging fruits and are meeting to see where we can fill those gaps when it comes to TNPA and TPT shifts.”
He said shifts and the challenges experienced by shifts remained a management issue and that across the port system managers had undertaken to address the issues.
“Not only does that mean we are going to be improving the supervision of shifts but also the communication between TNPA and TPT. While the total solution does sit with Transnet on a national level there are many things we can do at a local level to address some of the challenges.”
