PUBLISHER: Fresh Plaza (www.freshplaza.com)
The situation at the port of Cape Town is “not great”, says Mike Walwyn, vice-chairperson of the South African Association of Freight Forwarders.
“We have vessels waiting outside from as long ago as 25 December. The access to port has been hampered by strong winds with the result that truck congestion is still very much a factor, and consequently the booking system doesn’t really work properly.”
On average ships are waiting 14 days to berth at Cape Town port at present.
He continues that there is no proper staging area for trucks and the consequent backlog extends out into the roads of Cape Town (as it does into Durban when that port is congested).
Truckers complain because they have to queue in the road where, a truck driver tells FreshPlaza, the police also give them a hard time.
Delays caused by wind, the unavailability of well-maintained equipment and the power failure late December at the port are exacerbated, industry sources maintain, by the general low productivity at Cape Town’s terminals and inefficiency of the terminal.