Transnet has robust strategy in place
WHILE we appreciate Vusi Khumalo’s keen interest in Transnet’s plans for the ports, his letter (August 19, 2015) displays a staggering lack of understanding of the context in which we operate and could be hurtful to the thousands of Transnet employees who have taken the company to greater heights.
He accuses us of having no strategy for the ports system. This is incorrect.
Over the last four years, we have invested a significant portion of our more than R300 billion capital investment on expanding and modernising our ports system. This is based on a robust commercial, operational and capacity strategy.
We wish to remind Khumalo that over the past five years, we have modernised our container terminals in Durban and Cape Town, achieving significant gains in efficiencies and productivity, while boosting capacity.
At the same time, we have established the Ngqura Container Terminal near Port Elizabeth as the premium transshipment hub in the southern hemisphere.
These interventions are bearing fruit and they are the reason our ports businesses have sustained growth in revenue, profits and improving customer satisfaction, despite the weak global economic environment since 2008.
Transnet, through the ports it manages, plays a critical role in South Africa’s freight system. We facilitate all seagoing imports and exports, acting as key connectors to the world. Crucially, we serve as stimuli to the industrial clusters that depend on our ports. These include the strategically important petrochemical cluster in Durban and the automotive cluster in Port Elizabeth.
Khumalo is of the view that we should be competing with ports in our neighbouring countries. This is not a view that we share. We both welcome and lend our support to new port developments of our neighbours.
We see these as complementary to the South African system. They strengthen our regional logistics infrastructure network, enabling greater intra-regional trade. Ultimately, this benefits all of us.
Lastly, we would like to extend an invitation to Khumalo to make time for us to take him through our ports strategy.