Update: 02.11.2023
According to a letter circulated by Transnet today, the strike originally planned on 3 November by the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) has been cancelled.
Satawu informed Transnet that the cancellation of the labour action comes after "positive stakeholder developments," which will be followed by extensive negotiations between the company and the union.
Original article: 27.10.2023
The aftermath of a weather storm that hit South Africa last month is weighing heavily on port operations in Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth.
Cargo operations came to a halt on multiple occasions throughout the period between 23 and 26 September. Severe weather caused damage to equipment, with reports of collapsed stacks at Cape Town and crane malfunctions at Durban.
Carriers have adjusted vessel schedules to deal with delays and low port productivity on the South African coast. Some liners chose to omit Port Elizabeth and Cape Town to maintain schedule reliability.
This week, vessel delays increased significantly at Cape Town. Today’s 7-day average vessel waiting time at the port is estimated at 12.5 days. This is a significant jump from the 7 days of last week. As for Durban Port, today’s average is 5.79 days. Given that fewer ships call Port Elizabeth, the average is estimated today at 1.43 days.
Nevertheless, some container carriers have reported long delays for some of their vessels. According to Swiss-Italian carrier MSC, berthing delays in Durban extend up to 20 days in some cases, which in turn is heavily affecting the turnaround of vessels out of South Africa.
Delays are likely to continue over the next few weeks, especially amidst the persistent yard congestion, shortage of straddles within the terminal and poor maintenance plans by the port operator, Transnet. Below is a table showing the development of average vessel waiting in the past few weeks.
Transnet warns of strike
South Africa’s news agency, Freight News, reported that Transnet is warning the public of strike plans by the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) on 3 November.
A statement by Satawu revealed that its members are “set to down tools over the partial privatization of Transnet after it announced a joint venture with International Container Terminal Services Inc.”
However, Transnet considers the planned labour action as unlawful, as it does not comply with compulsory prerequisites for a lawful protest, reports Freight News. The company gave the union a deadline to “provide a written undertaking that it will not embark on the protest action.”
