Today’s Africa Ports & Ships has reported that the industrial strike action which has been affecting our ports, most notably Durban and Ngqura, has now been extended to the Port of Cape Town.

Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) issued a brief statement yesterday confirming that in the past 72 hours the Cape Town Container Terminal had been experiencing a decline in operational performance, but that a “business continuity plan ha[d] been instituted while TPT investigates the root cause of the matter which presents elements of an illegal industrial action”. The TPT further indicated that they are “confident of imminent recovery”.

The news is one that various industries, including the fruit industry and various manufacturing industries, can ill afford and comes at a time when neighbouring countries such as Namibia and Mozambique continue to take positive strides to develop their maritime infrastructures. Without urgent and concerted action, the latest developments will only further weaken South Africa’s position as a maritime nation.