Industry stakeholders have expressed satisfaction with the progress of a special task team set up to tackle traffic pressure and congestion in the Port of Durban’s Bayhead Precinct and surrounding road networks. 

In response to ongoing challenges with heavy truck traffic congestion attributed mainly to operational inefficiencies at the container terminal, the multidisciplinary Port of Durban Decongestion Task team was formed late last year. It comprises various private sector and government agencies with an interest in the port system and has a clear mandate of integrating to decongest the port.

Participants include Transnet, the Department of Public Enterprises, KwaZulu-Natal provincial government, eThekwini municipality, Durban Metro Police, SAPS, organised business through the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the South African Association of Ship Operators and Agents (SAASOA),  South African Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAF), representatives of the shipping lines, trucking fraternity, depot operators and other industry associations and bodies.

Moshe Motlohi, General Manager at the Port of Durban, who leads the task team, said, “In December 2019, Transnet recognised a need to change its model of engagement with its stakeholders where decongesting the Port of Durban is concerned.  The Decongestion Task Team meets fortnightly and through nine targeted workstreams we have adopted an integrated approach to tackle the root causes of Bayhead traffic related congestion in the precinct and to ensure improved coordination, planning, operations, cargo flows and capacity.”

He said the role players had already agreed to a number of initiatives aimed at improving the flow of containers into and out of the port so that delays are minimised, predictability is optimised and the Port of Durban is ultimately decongested.

Positive results

“It has been encouraging to see improvements in key measures of efficiency including ship waiting time, ship turnaround time, reduced truck turnaround time and staging times, improved fluidity on Bayhead Road leading into the container terminals and improved rail turnaround time. But we know we must not rest on our laurels and will continue collaborating with all role players to sustain these improvements,” he said.

Chairperson of the Harbour Carriers division of SAAFF, Sue Moodley, said: “The engagement sessions have been very interactive and informative, and it has been enlightening as there are many streams which contribute to the narrative, and this project is starting to take the direction it was designed for.  We also have recognised that the feedback provided over the weeks are being noted, and this has created much improvement to the truck booking system and the quality of reports which are being provided to the trucking industry. There is still much more work that needs to be done by the larger logistics community, and these gaps have been identified and highlighted to incorporate the wider logistics community.”

CEO of SAASOA, Peter Besnard, agreed: “We are very pleased that finally we are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel.”