The South African Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF) says public, private partnership is the only viable solution to the current challenge facing the country’s ports.
President Cyril Ramaphosa last week visited the Richards Bay port and said heads must roll over the crisis that saw unprecedented truck congestion on the N2 highway.
The visit came after Transnet’s decision to suspend the receiving of goods via road transport into its Richards Bay Mineral Port.
Association Director, Mike Walwyn says, “I’m not advocating for privatisation, but I’m looking at situations as they have in our neighbour in Maputo where there is a partnership with a major international private operator, where the government of Mozambique holds 51% and the operator 49% and the operator has operational independence, that’s a fairly common model around the world and we see it being expanded all the time. For us, that’s the only real answer. We don’t believe that government or Transnet within their own resources has the capacity to fix this.”
Transnet Impasse | ‘We cannot handle cargo at the rate we should be’: Mike Walwyn
