Impediments to the structural development of South African maritime supply chains

Abstract

The progress of the South African economy relies heavily on earnings from physical exports, which depend increasingly on the competitiveness in global markets of the maritime supply chains that serve the country. World best practice requires that those chains should function as entities structured to serve their logistical purpose, while the development of such structured chains requires chain leadership. Transnet fulfils a prominent role in South Africa’s maritime supply chains, but that role, in accordance with the declared policy of the Government, constitutes an impediment to restructuring the chains as competing entities under private leadership. The solution may be found in leadership by public-private partnerships.