Port of Cape Town ranks last globally, sparking urgent privatization push

The City of Cape Town has renewed its push for Transnet to speed up operational fixes at the Port of Cape Town after the facility placed last in the latest World Bank Container Port Performance Index.

James Vos, the mayoral committee member for economic growth, said the poor ranking hurts South Africa’s trade goals and job creation. He noted that while Transnet has invested in some infrastructure, those changes have not yet shown up in global benchmarks.

Exporters face persistent delays that damage their ability to compete in international markets. While other ports in the national network show signs of progress through new partnerships, Cape Town continues to lag because of equipment failures and poor management.

Privatization push as bottlenecks persist

To address these bottlenecks, port authorities recently issued requests for proposals to hand over operations at the liquid bulk and cold storage terminals to private companies. Vos welcomed the move, saying greater private sector involvement cannot come soon enough.

Local officials say terminal delays come up constantly in meetings with the business community. Whether dealing with farmers shipping fruit or manufacturers managing supply chains, executives call the port the single biggest hurdle to economic growth in the Western Cape.

The stakes are high for the regional economy. Research commissioned by the Western Cape government shows an efficient port could unlock R6 billion in additional exports, protect 20,000 jobs, and generate over R1.6 billion in tax revenue.

Weather disruptions and technical fixes

The World Bank report blamed the low ranking on frequent weather disruptions and poor equipment reliability. These factors caused wild swings in vessel turnaround times, meaning ships spent too much time waiting at anchor instead of loading cargo.

To cut down these delays, the port is testing a predictive wind model developed with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. Officials also introduced a helicopter piloting service to move vessels during high swells and a digital cargo-planning platform.

The World Bank noted that Cape Town’s struggles show how severe local bottlenecks can wipe out any benefits from easing global supply chain pressures. If the infrastructure fails, the port cannot take advantage of its location on major shipping routes.

A tale of two ports: Durban’s turnaround model

In contrast, the report named Durban and Ngqura among the five most improved container ports globally over the last year. Durban wiped out its backlog, dropping from a peak of 20 waiting ships down to zero as berth utilization jumped to 76 percent.

Durban’s turnaround followed management changes and a major privatization push. International Container Terminal Services Inc. won a 25-year concession to modernize Durban Container Terminal Pier 2, which will expand its annual capacity to 2.8 million containers.

Vos said Cape Town needs that same level of aggressive reform immediately. He stated that the city will continue to lobby for outside investment and private operators to replace the current state-run monopoly and protect local businesses.