Unfolding Port of Durban Crises

ActionSA has submitted a Notice of Motion calling on Parliament to debate the drastically deteriorating operational situation at the Port of Durban.

The Port of Durban handles 60% of South Africa’s containerised cargo and while it increased efficiency last year we cannot allow it to take a single step backwards as seems to be the case unfolding with recent industry reports. 

These record excessive average anchorage times of 214 hours, berth times of 123 hours, and a total Durban vessel queue of 33 vessels. These operational challenges are placing immense pressure on the national supply chain, disrupting businesses across virtually every sector and imposing additional unnecessary costs on thousands of small, medium and large enterprises.

Business and industry organisations representing those affected have repeatedly called for urgent government intervention. At a time of weak economic growth and an expanded unemployment rate of 43.6%, South Africa cannot afford to keep scoring own goals. The unfolding crisis at the Port of Durban is one such own goal.

South Africa’s economy is at a critical inflection point. Parliament cannot sit on the sidelines while a strategic economic gateway deteriorates and businesses, jobs and livelihoods are placed under increasing pressure.

Parliament must not be silent while our economy and the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of South Africans hang in the balance.

ActionSA Education: Advocates for specialized skills training and artisan schools.

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Durban was the first place that Mahatma Gandhi came to in South Africa, after he left India. He arrived in the city in 1893 on the SS Safari, and moved in with his family on Grey Street. Gandhi practiced law in Durban, and the Old Court House (now a museum) where he worked is one of the many places where you can walk in his footsteps.