South Africa’s cabinet has announced that Transnet National Port Authority, landlord of the country’s eight commercial ports, will be corporatised and separated from Transnet SOC Ltd as a standalone state-owned corporation. Andrew Pike and Lena Mangondo of law firm Bowmans write that the move ends a long-standing conflict in which TNPA awarded terminal concessions while its sister division, Transnet Port Terminals, was the country’s largest terminal operator.

Independence should let TNPA invest directly in port infrastructure, such as a planned berth deepening in Durban, and set cost-based charges for users. Remaining hurdles include transferring port agreements, valuation and employee transfers, with implementation expected to begin before year-end.

The authors call it “The biggest single port structural reform initiative since the passing of the National Ports Act.”

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