Harbour personnel are cautiously optimistic that the situation will start improving at Ngqura Port Terminal (NPT), but it will take two weeks, at the least, to get back on schedule. Staffing shortages and low productivity at all of the country’s containers terminals mean that Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) will have to work around the clock to stabilise the situation and avoid a severe build-up of vessels that cannot get berthing slots.

As far back as December 2019, inefficiency at Cape Town’s port was highlighted by the Department of Economic Development and Tourism who convened a meeting at the Cape Town International Convention Centre with key stakeholders representing the entire port logistics chain, from exporters and importers, to trucking companies, the respective divisions of Transnet, Navis, SARS and shipping lines, as well as representatives from the City of Cape Town.

Following my recent meeting with the Citrus Growers Association (CGA), I wish to register my concern about the current state of service delivery at the Port of Cape Town and its potential negative impact on the export of agricultural products.

This week, almost 100 vessels were anchored outside ports, victims of a logistics nightmare that is costing the economy more than R1bn a day. ANNELIESE BURGESS tries to understand what is going on and where the solutions lie.