This is a cross-post from my blog from last year.

Back then I discovered an extremely peculiar issue while researching the problems with South Africa's port authority.

A relatively minor but significant obstacle to smooth operation at South African ports, particularly Cape Town’s and Saldanha’s, is the difficulty in receiving a stevedore’s license. The regulations, unchanged since 2008, make it mandatory to be a member of the National Stevedore’s Association of South Africa (NASASA) in order to receive a license (see p. 114 of the Transnet National Ports Authority. 2008. Guidelines for Agreements, Licences and Permits in terms of the National Ports Act No. 12 of 2005)

But unlike the other six professional associations required for the various port services licenses listed in the document, there is no public means of contacting the organisation, nor is it registered with the CIPC. A contact of mine who insisted on remaining anonymous, attempted to receive a license for his company in November of last year, only to be denied it for this specific reason – his stevedoring company was not a member of this professional association.

According to representatives from two major companies, NASASA has not existed for “four years”, and that therefore that requirement “fell away”.[1] But that does not square with the timeline of the license refusal. Furthermore, the KZN Maritime Economic Overview lists them as an active participating member of the Durban Port Committee as of 2021 (See p.42).

The email contact provided on the London High Commission’s webpage for Department of Transport contacts still has NASASA’s email listed under the domain @bidport.co.za – the official domain of Bidfreight Port Operations, a division of Bidvest. Tarryn Lange of Bidfreight Port Operations explained this by claiming that her company had merely contracted a secretary to handle communications for NASASA.[2] However, she herself is listed as the representative for NASASA at the board of the eThekwini Maritime Cluster despite having been managerial staff at Bidfreight since at least 2010.

This constitutes at the very least a gross conflict of interest. If one of the lead stevedoring companies is given control over a key gatekeeping process for entry into the market (licenses), this creates a strong incentive to block entry to the market by competitors. The shortage of skills in the sector can only be combated by providing greater opportunities. An organisation with more extensive resources would be better placed to ascertain the particulars, but for now, this is sufficient evidence to suspect foul play.

[1] Telephone interview with Angelique Pistorius of Vukuzenzele Stevedore Services 08/02/2022; Telephone interview with Tarryn Lange of Bidfreight Port Operations 08/02/2022

[2] Telephone interview with Tarryn Lange of Bidfreight Port Operations 08/02/2022