The Department of Transport has reported a marked improvement in the performance of Transnet’s Port Terminals between June and August this year.

Transnet Port Terminals (TPT), which oversees cargo handling operations across the country’s commercial ports, is responsible for loading and offloading containers, vehicles, breakbulk, and bulk cargo.

According to the department, weekly performance averaged more than 90,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) during the period, compared with 65,000 units over the same months last year. This reflects a year-on-year increase of 7.2% in container volumes by the end of August.

Transport spokesperson Collen Msibi attributed the improvement to targeted maintenance that reduced equipment breakdowns, the introduction of a fourth shift to safeguard employee well-being, and substantial investment in new machinery.

Among the equipment introduced were nine rubber-tyred gantry cranes for Durban Container Terminal Pier 1, 20 straddle carriers for Pier 2, a ship-to-shore crane at Port Elizabeth, and more than 200 hauliers and trailers distributed across all container terminals.

Msibi highlighted that in the week ending 20 July 2025, a record 101,295 TEUs were processed across TPT container facilities. The all-time peak of 105,650 TEUs in a single week was last achieved in the 2014/2015 financial year.

He added that the improved performance gives the department confidence that cargo volumes lost in the 2023/2024 financial year will return, strengthening the ports’ role in job retention and creating opportunities for future employment.