05 August 2022
According to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, a request for proposal (RFP) papers for private sector participation in the container terminals at the ports of Durban and Ngqura will be released this month to have partnerships in place by January 2023.
Godongwana provided the most recent Operation Vulindlela progress update, and he highlighted the RFPs as a significant step in allowing seasoned foreign terminal operators to invest in the improvement of infrastructure and management of port operations.
Private operators were asked to respond to a request for information regarding the operation of the Durban Container Terminal (DCT) Pier 2 and the Ngqura Container Terminal as part of a market-testing procedure before the bidding process (NCT).
The Operation Vulindlela report noted that the bidding for the first 16 slots on the Durban-City Deep and Pretoria-East London lines will conclude at the end of August, as well as the progress being made in opening Transnet Freight Rail’s (TFR’s) network to outside operators.
“It is important to recognise that this is only the first step in enabling third-party access to the freight rail network,” Godnongwana said.
He continued by saying that after the Economic Regulation of Transport Bill is passed in the upcoming months, an independent Transport Economic Regulator will be established to allow non-discriminatory access to the network outside of certain timeslots.
The Presidency’s project management office head Rudi Dicks said that Operation Vulindlela was aware of market concerns about the design of the slot’s sale, including the fact that these were limited to two years.
Finance Minister emphasized that the port and rail reforms’ main goal was to maintain State ownership., “while encouraging and enabling competition in operations to improve efficiency and leverage private sector investment”.
“During the next quarter, we will prioritize reforms in the transport sector with the same degree of urgency with which we have responded to the energy crisis during the previous quarter,” the Minister added.
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