Fruit industry loses R350m over Cape Town Port failures, weighs legal action against Transnet

South Africa's deciduous fruit industry body, Hortgro, is considering legal action against Transnet over ongoing operational failures at the Port of Cape Town.

This follows "sustained, material underperformance" at the Cape Town Container Terminal (CTCT) since the start of the season, which Hortgro says continues to cause measurable harm to the country’s export economy.

The body is currently quantifying the direct and indirect losses of income to producers. These include costs stemming from unacceptable levels of unsound fruit in markets, discounted prices, additional expenses incurred to divert to other ports, and the forced utilisation of conventional vessels.

RELATED: Cape Town Port shows slight improvement in world ranking - private management now critical, says Mayor

Since the start of the 2025/2026 deciduous fruit export season, the industry has already incurred direct losses exceeding R350 million, Hortgro says in a statement.

These are expected to continue accumulating daily as delayed vessels arrive at destination ports.

"While the industry recognises the commitment and effort of operational teams working under extremely difficult circumstances, the persistence and scale of performance failures at CTCT point to deep-seated structural weaknesses that extend beyond isolated incidents or external disruptions, such as adverse weather."

Transnet Port Terminals CEO Jabu Mdaki affirms that they are working closely with the industry to find solutions, but emphasizes the role of extreme weather in conversation with Stephen Grootes.

He describes the last few months as "a challenging period" for the Cape Town Port.

"From November 2024 to January this year we've lost about 915 hours due to wind. During the same period the previous year we lost about 479 hours, so that is a big increase in the number of hours, and there's also been an increase in wind intensity."

RELATED: New, high-tech cranes set to improve efficiency at Cape Town port

Mdaki highlights the launch of new ‘rubber-tyred gantry’ (RTG) cranes for the container terminal last September, which are able to function in wind speeds of up to 90 km an hour.

Aside from the wind factor, the deciduous fruit Industry analysis points to five interlinked structural failures at the port:

• Human resources and labour management failures
• Health and safety governance failures
• Equipment and systemic infrastructure failures
• Operational process, execution and control failures
• Communication and accountability failures

Scroll up to the audio player to hear more from the Transnet Port Terminals chief