City of Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has reiterated his call for private sector management of the Port of Cape Town to consolidate improvements at the port, after it registered a modest improvement in its position in development finance institution the World Bank’s world port efficiency rankings.

Cape Town’s port secured the most-improved score globally in this latest World Bank index. Port management and new State-owned Transnet leadership are the reason for this encouraging, albeit modest, progress, he says.

Specifically, the port gained the most points globally in the 2024 Container Port Index (CPPI), moving up from last position to 400th out of 403 ports.

However, the port remains among the bottom-five in the world, which shows just how far behind the port has been lagging, and underscores the urgent need for Transnet to bring in private sector management to consolidate these green shoot gains, he emphasises.

“An efficient port is essential for job-creating growth in our region. That’s why we are calling for the urgent completion of the national government’s Request For Information process on private sector partnerships for the Port of Cape Town. To keep making progress, we need continued investment in port upgrades alongside more private sector involvement in running the port,” says Hill-Lewis.

Specifically, an efficient port could create 20 000 new jobs, add R6-billion in exports and more than R1.6-billion in new tax revenue, according to research from the Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism, says Cape Town Economic Growth MMC Alderman James Vos.

“We should see further ranking improvement owing to Transnet’s ongoing R3.4-billion capital investment, including dozens of new cranes this year with critical anti-sway technology to protect operations from wind. This should improve the port’s ability to cope with weather-related disruptions, which have often forced exporters to divert goods elsewhere at huge costs.

“However, we are still some way off being globally competitive however, showing the need for new infrastructure to be complemented by private sector leadership in the port operations,” he says.