The Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry has asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to step in on three problems hurting business in the city. Chamber CEO Palesa Phili named the crisis at the Port of Durban, cheap imports and the barriers facing small businesses.
Phili spoke at the chamber’s 170th anniversary dinner. She said good investment is coming into the South Coast and eThekwini, but local industry is under severe pressure.
“We have lost vessels that waited for days outside the port. There are manufacturers who have had to close sections because they don’t have inputs that have been waiting for days, sometimes more than 10 days, coming out of the port,” she said.
Phili described the situation at the port as dire. She said former Transnet leaders had made the port stable after a very bad period. She said conditions had become worse again in recent months.
She said importers are also struggling to get raw materials because of the delays. She said private sector investors are ready to support Transnet.
Phili appealed to the President to back Transnet Group CEO Michelle Phillips and her team so they can urgently fix the port. “We cannot afford to have the port in the state that it is in right now. It is taking us back all those years,” she said.
Phili said Transnet’s R150 billion debt is a large obstacle to its recovery. She said the debt dominates the performance targets of its executives.
“The majority of the time they are focused on those KPIs. We plead that you consider moving that debt or restructuring it at National Treasury, so that Michelle and her team are able to work efficiently and focus on fixing the ports,” she told the President.
On imports, Phili said Durban is on the frontline of cheap and counterfeit goods entering the country because it has the biggest port. “When all these products come in, they start right here with us, affecting our industries,” she said.
She said the chamber is working closely with the International Trade Administration Commission and its Commissioner, Ayabonga Cawe. She said he has given some relief to the agricultural sector, but more must be done for other industries.
Phili called for full use of existing laws, including the International Trade Administration Act of 2002, to protect local industries from unfair imports. She also asked for stronger action against counterfeit and under-invoiced goods.
Her last point was the low share of jobs that small and medium businesses provide in South Africa. She said these businesses employ about 80% of workers in emerging markets such as Brazil and China.
In South Africa the figure is around 40%, she said, citing Stats SA.
Phili listed electricity, infrastructure, high rentals, access to finance and labour market rules as barriers to their growth. She asked the President to address these problems to help create jobs.
Source: this article is based on reporting by IOL. Image: IOL. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Business desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Anelisa Nkuna covers business and money news for Tzaneen Voice. Anelisa reports on the rand, fuel prices, interest rates, jobs, Eskom, Transnet, farming and company results. The aim is simple: explain what the numbers mean for household budgets, small businesses and workers in South Africa.