Clarity Still Needed On Container Terminal Services Partnership Deal

Dear Editor

• The DA is pleased with Transnet’s partnership with International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) to develop and manage the Durban Container Terminal.
• It aligns with our policy stance of opening up the SOE sector to private sector investment.
• Transnet must expedite private sector investment in other ports to enhance efficiency and competitiveness.

The DA’s principled policy stance, in which we have consistently called for the opening up of the State Owned Enterprises (SOE) sector to private sector investment due to state failure which has severely impacted the economy, has started to bear fruit after Transnet announced that it has entered into a partnership with Philippines-headquartered International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) for a 25-year joint venture to develop and manage Durban Container Terminal (DCT) Pier 2.

We welcome this development and call on Transnet to speed up private sector investment in the rest of the port system to improve efficiency and increase South Africa’s competitiveness as a trade destination.

In the interest of public accountability, the DA is calling on Transnet to release the full details of the ICTSI deal. Transnet should:

• Give details of others bidders who participated in the joint venture tender process but were not successful;
• Provide details on the amount of shares that ICTSI will hold in this partnership and the profit sharing arrangement; and
• List the exact amount that ICTSI will invest in the Durban Container Terminal (DCT) Pier 2 as part of its commitments to the deal.

The Department of Public Enterprises has tied itself in knots on the SAA/Takatso deal following their repeated failure to provide clarity on why Takatso has still not stumped up the money that it said it would invest in SAA as part of the deal. To avoid the same mistakes, Transnet must take the public into its confidence by publicizing the contractual agreements that it has entered into with ICTSI.

With South African ports still ranked among some of the worlds’ worst, private sector investment is critical for promoting innovation and unlocking value in the logistics value chain. However, even as we welcome this investment – the priority must be to ensure transparency and accountability in any commercial deals entered into with the private sector.

Regards

Ghaleb Cachalia MP
DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises