South Africa’s giant port authority, under new directorship, faces up to the growing pressures of burgeoning trade, writes Lynda Loxton
Newly appointed Portnet executive director Sipho Nyawo had an unusual brainstorming session in Cape Town this week to help him map out what should be done to the giant port authority to meet the needs of burgeoning post-apartheid trade.
Held only four weeks after his appointment and including representatives from as far afield as Hong Kong, Britain, Germany and New York, the conference provided Nyawo and his top officials with a unique opportunity to tap into sometimes conflicting views on port management, whether ports should be privatised or not and the role of unions in keeping ports operating.
Hong Kong-based Ahrenkiel Liner Service Limited managing director Peter Nash said the previous, white management had not made vital decisions about upgrading facilities such as container terminals to meet increased traffic flows after the first all- race elections in 1994.
The cross-fertilisation of ideas at the conference would help Portnet have a better informed view when making these and other important decisions, Nash said.
Nyawo, who has trained in ports around the world, said that although he had had some experience in Portnet before his appointment, he realised that he needed to consult fairly widely to get a better grip on the issues, pitfalls and challenges facing him.
Afterwards, he said the experience had been worthwhile and he planned a follow-up conference with the same delegates a year from now to measure progress.
The initiative was welcomed by the local and international delegates, even though, as Wolf Arlt of the Port of Hamburg put it, there was some initial suspicion about the purpose of the meeting. But that soon dissolved “and we had a really good discussion”.
That the infrastructure and staff at South Africa’s ports need urgent attention is well known. Unprecedented flows of imports and exports all but clogged the major ports last year and labour unrest has often ground one or other port to a halt.
In addition, as Safmarine managing director Tony Farr pointed out, productivity is not as high as it should be. Security has also been a problem and Nyawo said a top priority would be to beef it up with the help of Felixstowe port officials in Britain.
Nyawo said part of the problem had been the “us and them” approach of previous [white] management, the lack of communication between port officials and their clients and inadequate training and poor staff relations.
During the conference, delegates identified certain key areas that needed attention and Nyawo said that he would be appointing an advisory group to help him deal with the issues raised.
The key areas included port regulation, improved client relations through a national stakeholder forum, improved tariff and pricing policies, security, productivity and training, a more participative management approach to infrastructure development and improved marketing of ports.
Nyawo also announced that Portnet would spend more than R950-million in 1996/97 to upgrade South Africa’s ports to handle increased traffic.
The upgrade would include a new quay at Richards Bay, a new terminal at Saldanha Bay and new grain elevators at East London and Port Elizabeth.
He also hinted that major new developments would be announced “in six weeks’ time” to improve container handling facilities in the two Eastern Cape ports.
The conference also gave Portnet a chance to air the controversial issue of whether it should be privatised or not. Delegates heard about the ports of Hong Kong and Felixstowe, which were privatised and highly efficient and Singapore port which was government-owned, but was moving towards privatisation.
Union representatives at the conference reiterated their opposition to privatisation, but said that if the present restructuring agreement indicated that this was what was needed, “we will address it when it comes”.
Nyawo said he was also awaiting the completion of the restructuring exercise under the National Framework Agreement, but that he had been encouraged by the “practical” approach of the unions.
Other issues that were discussed included the development of hub ports to serve the region and whether the development of the Maputo corridor would not take traffic away from South African ports.