This week’s delivery of eight new hydraulic mooring units to South African ports marks a high-tech attempt to stabilize the country’s export gateways. However, for the deciduous fruit industry, the R534 million investment is overshadowed by a mounting logistical crisis that has already cost producers hundreds of millions of rands.
On 3 February 2026, Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) confirmed that four new units are now operational in Cape Town, with four more being commissioned in Durban and Ngqura. Designed to stabilize vessels in winds up to 50 knots, these assets address “vessel ranging”—a phenomenon that often halts loading during the Cape’s frequent high-wind events.
A Billion-Rand Inventory in Limbo
While TNPA Acting Chief Executive Mohammed Abdool hailed the arrival of these assets as a “critical response to climate change,” the industry representative body, Hortgro, has signaled that hardware alone is not enough. In a formal statement issued on January 30, 2026, Hortgro confirmed it is now “considering formal legal remedies” due to what it describes as “sustained, material underperformance” at the Cape Town Container Terminal (CTCT).
The data provided by the industry is stark. Since the start of the 2025/26 season, direct losses have already exceeded R350 million. Even more concerning is the backlog: approximately 1,688 containers are currently stuck in cold storage, representing R1 billion in fruit inventory at risk of spoilage.
“The commercial consequences of this sustained underperformance are now severe,” Hortgro stated, noting that productivity remains below 20 gross crane movements per hour, far behind the global competitive benchmark of 25–30.
Exporters Forced into Costly Detours
To bypass the bottlenecks in Cape Town, exporters have been forced into expensive “logistical gymnastics.” Shipments via Port Elizabeth have surged by 140%, racking up over R133 million in unplanned road transport costs. Additional volumes are being rerouted through Durban and as far as Walvis Bay in Namibia, further eroding the narrow margins of South African farmers.
Structural Gaps Remain
Industry leaders argue that while the new mooring units help with weather delays, they do not fix the “deep-seated structural weaknesses” at the ports. Hortgro has identified five key failure areas:
- Human resources and labor management shortcomings.
- Equipment reliability (specifically ship-to-shore cranes).
- Health and safety governance gaps.
- Operational execution and control.
- Communication and accountability.
As the peak export window for pome and stone fruit moves into high gear, the arrival of new mooring technology is a welcome modernization. Yet, for many growers already facing “unsound fruit” claims from overseas markets, the prevailing sentiment is that these interventions have come “too little, too late” to save the 2025/26 season.