As the implosion of Transnet gathers pace, with catastrophic impacts on our already battered economy, I am certain that there are many amongst us beginning to think fondly of the old South African Railways and Harbours (SAR&H).
For those with short memories, this was the behemoth that ran all rail and port infrastructure for the country as a single entity. No fancy logos and branding, and ‘divisions’ with bloated boards and fancy offices. From this single entity, many were spawned in the mythical push for efficiency. We got Transnet Freight Rail (TFR), Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), Transnet Engineering, and Transnet Port Terminals. And then the passenger side was completely hived off into the infamous Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA).
Instead of achieving anything close to operational efficiency and financial sustainability, as the final report of the Zondo Commission revealed, every single division of Transnet became nothing more than a giant feeding trough for the purveyors and perpetrators of State capture. And so we begin to reap the seeds of this massive abdication of responsibility by the powers that be (essentially the ruling party and its deployees) as international shipping lines abandon our ports for more efficient ones in our African neighbours, and our mining exports stagnate in massive stockpiles, robbing the fiscus of over R60bn rand in desperately needed revenue.
Alarmingly, in our job starved economy, over 30000 jobs in the mining industry are threatened directly by the deterioration in the country’s transport sector. There can surely be no greater indictment on the collapse of the entity when you get unions calling for the private sector to assist in the rescue efforts, as a senior union official did on SAFM a few mornings ago. Of course he denied this amounted to the first steps of privatisation, referring to his call as ‘an optimisation of infrastructure’.
It is hard to garner any sympathy for the management of Transnet, as the writing has been on the wall for many years. Listening to the manager of the Port of Durban blame the chaos at the harbour, and backlog of over 70000 containers awaiting clearance on 63 vessels, on bad weather and outdated equipment and technology, one had to wonder what exactly he and his management team were doing as things fell apart around them.
The long term prognosis is not promising. Even if the new Transnet board is able to execute on its latest turnaround strategy (unlikely in my view as it is premised on a R50bn bailout from the State), many of our African neighbours, such as Mozambique and Kenya have built state of the art port infrastructure which have attracted the large shipping lines. It will be difficult to attract back the likes of Maersk who have just announced their decision to abandon Cape Town as destination port. As they say….’Once bitten, twice shy’.
Vijay Naidoo is the CEO of the Port Shepstone Business Forum. He writes in his personal capacity. The views expressed are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication.
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