Abstract
Ports are critical contributors to trade, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employment, transport costs, logistics and new business development for a country or region. Well-performing ports are, therefore, critical to a country’s economic objectives and competitiveness. South African container ports, however, are severely underperforming, according to several academic studies, international organisations, and Transnet’s internal targets. The Durban Port is the largest container port in the country and one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. The Durban Container Terminal (DCT) Pier 2 is the largest container terminal in the country. Since a container vessel utilises services at both the port and terminal level, DCT and the Port of Durban were both used as data points for the port competitive analysis.
The intended purpose of this dissertation was to research the factors that should be improved at the port of Durban and DCT to enhance port competitiveness. A pragmatic explanatory sequential mixed methods approach, based on grounded theory, was used to execute the research. Incorporating cross-sectional data, Phase 1 was a bibliometric analysis that enabled the identification of the most relevant academic papers in the broader literature. Using citation analysis, a systematic review was then undertaken to identify which publications to incorporate into the content analysis.
Phase 2 was the content analysis, where selected publications were analysed, manually and using artificial intelligence, to identify the key themes affecting port competitiveness. The nine most important themes affecting port competitiveness were efficiency, infrastructure, service quality, technology, connectivity, location, costs, ownership and hinterland factors. These themes were used to inform the questionnaire in the next phase.
Phase 3 was semi-structured interviews, which used a four-part questionnaire incorporating both quantitative and qualitative components. The questionnaire posed specific questions to ascertain and contextualise the theme interdependence and importance. Furthermore, the importance of the themes, contextualised to the port of Durban and DCT, was undertaken, as well as the perceived performance of the port related to these themes. The responses to the questionnaire informed the recommendations for port improvements. The findings were segmented according to hierarchical impact. At the macro level, the implementation of an economically appropriate informed strategy for container ports is proposed since the current doctrine conflicts between profit achievement
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versus broader socioeconomic development. Cross-subsidisation between operating divisions at Transnet should be reduced or halted as its existence distorts the market. The slow and bureaucratic procurement process was frequently stated as an impediment to securing equipment timeously. To mitigate against this, both Transnet National Port Authority (TNPA) and Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) should be exempted, for a temporary period, from the National Treasury Procurement Policy to enable accelerated equipment replacement. At the micro level, a renewed focus on efficiency and service quality (effectiveness) is the most needed transition by stakeholders. It is suggested to ring-fence revenue to ensure adequate equipment is replaced on time. The organisation should also consider outsourcing its maintenance functions to specialists, as maintenance is not a core focus area of a logistics company. The embedding of technology across all aspects of the business is critical to ensure future sustainability and competitiveness. Collaboration and integration across the entire port supply chain should be encouraged and formalised, possibly in the form of a vertical cluster.
This dissertation provides solutions based on academic research and rigour. This empowers decision-makers with data-informed problem identification and proposed solutions at the global level in general, and the port of Durban specifically. Suggested areas for future research include expanding the scope of this study to all container terminals in South Africa, including labour employees’ perspectives, empirical testing of the findings and expanding the scope of the questionnaire to take cognisance of the different perspectives of the landlord (TNPA) and the operator (TPT).