helen mba _2 - Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

subject to the same terms and conditions. Portnet management was of the opinionthat open gates would present new opportunities to private hauliers, while the roadtransport arm of Portnet would also benefit from the wider market in which it wouldoperate (Dispatch online, 1999:2).In reality, however, the limited container handling equipment in the port of PortElizabeth and the increased number of haulage vehicles calling at the terminal, hasresulted in queues sometimes as long as 65 vehicles outside the port gates. Thequeuing lowers the productivity and efficiency of vehicles, forcing the intermodalindustry to increase prices, to the disadvantage of the customer.3.6.1 Future container flows in South African portsIn line with an increase in global trade and exports, container flows through SouthAfrican harbours have increased.The South African harbours and transportation infrastructure previously used for localtrade are coming under pressure to facilitate the increase of international trade. Table3.1 provides a summary of the total twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU`s) handled in theport of Port Elizabeth between 1999 and 2002. The general trend of increasedcontainer flow over the period 1991 until 2002 is graphically displayed in Figure 3.3.Table 3.1 : Total number of containers handled at the port of Port Elizabeth (TEU’s),for the period 1991-2002YEARContainers landed ContainersshippedTOTAL1991 38589 36112 747011992 45310 44757 900671993 47526 48700 9622690