Question NW357 to the Minister of Public Enterprises

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22 March 2024 - NW357

Profile picture: Manyi, Mr M

Manyi, Mr M to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises

How does his department plan to mitigate the impact of the Port of Maputo's increasing role in handling container imports into the Republic, as well as the export of coal and other minerals, on the operations and competitiveness of the Port of Durban and the Port of Richards Bay?

Reply:

According to the information received from Transnet:

The Port of Maputo serves two roles to South Africa: as an extension of the South African complementary port system and as a competitor.

In the role as an extension of the South African complementary port system, the Port of Maputo provides import and export capacity that cannot be met by Transnet Port Terminals thus assisting with maintaining fluidity in the South African freight logistics system. Transnet allocates cargo to Maputo on an equitable basis to ensure that the system doesn’t choke, i.e., Richards Bay and Durban cannot accommodate all cargo from the hinterland, therefore, the Port of Maputo provides an alternative to execute Customer demand, especially when Transnet Port Terminals are oversubscribed.

Over the past three years, the Port of Maputo recorded significant growth in bulk commodities like Chrome, Coal and Magnetite, and negligible growth in the container business. Transnet is implementing strategies to improve the availability and reliability of plant and equipment to enable the clawing-back of cargo volumes that migrated to Maputo port due to operational inefficiencies.

High-level initiatives to enable volume claw-back include, but are not limited to:

  • long-term partnerships with Original Equipment Manufacturers to reduce response time to plant and equipment failures
  • implementing a reliability-based maintenance regime
  • implementing continuous improvement initiatives as identified in the turnaround plan to drive the achievement of terminals-wide performance norms
  • introduction of the 4th shift operation philosophy to improve throughput, performance levels and ultimately Customer satisfaction.

 

 

Remarks: Reply: Approved / Not Approved/Comments

Jacky Molisane P J Gordhan, MP

Acting Director-General Minister

Date: Date:

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