Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism
Question by Hon Masipa
In relation to the Port of Cape Town:
- Whether the Port of Cape Town’s performance during the 2024 citrus export season has reached all the relevant targets for efficiency; if not, what are the relevant details;
- (a) what challenges, if any, are currently being experienced at the Port and (b) how will his Department support Transnet in addressing these challenges?
- Information obtained from the Citrus Growers Association indicates that 281,000 pallets of citrus were exported via Port of Cape Town for the season to date until 23 August. This is the equivalent of approximately 16,000 containers loaded. Another 5,400 containers of citrus are expected to be exported via Port of Cape Town over the next 10 weeks until the end of October. The total production of fruit to be packed for the 2024 season is expected to be approximately 35 million cartons of 15kg each. This may be slightly lower than the 2023 pack out of 36.1 million cartons. The season is later than usual due to prolonged warm temperatures in June and the heavy rainfall in citrus production areas during harvest time.
The container terminals in Port of Cape Town have shipped all the citrus cargo that was presented to it. Vessel turnaround time has improved, but further improvement is needed. A significant constraint is the rate of breakdowns among heavy lifting equipment. The Cape Town Container Terminal received new truck-trailer combinations during July and the first batch of the new rubber tyred gantries are expected to arrive in February 2025. This should contribute meaningfully to performance improvements. Repairs are being done on ship to shore cranes, but their operational availability remains a challenge.
- (a) Operational availability of heavy lifting equipment remains a challenge, as indicated above. This results in slow vessel turnaround time and
in truck congestion. The low level of digitization of cargo flow management is also a challenge, that could reduce bottlenecks if addressed. Thirdly, the impact of disruptive events, including inclement weather, is a significant challenge.
- (b) The Department is collaborating with Transnet and other agencies in the container logistics chain to:
- Improve communication and information sharing among stakeholders aimed at win-win outcomes,
- Reduce truck congestion,
- Develop a shared digital logistics planning platform,
- Improve the efficiency of empty container handling,
- Manage disruptive events pro-actively, and
Co-create a logistics development strategy for Port of Cape Town that gives expression to the provincial Growth for Jobs strategy.
