The reaction to Transnet’s performance may be the most inadvertent reflection of South Africa’s state of mind.

In the recently released World Bank Container Port Index 2024 survey of more than 400 global ports, Durban, Cape Town, Coega and Port Elizabeth once again ranked in the bottom ten. This is bad news. But it is not new bad news: year after year, the same survey produces the same dismal results.

And yet, the response at home has been curiously muted, even defensive. Cape Town’s modest climb on the list was celebrated as “the best improvement.” Commentators praised the committed work of Transnet’s management. Certainly, 2025 has brought some stabilisation to rail and ports, but we need urgent action to unlock economic opportunities.

Perhaps the deeper problem is that South Africans are too polite to be honest. We hesitate to confront hard truths for fear of sounding unpatriotic and overly critical, or harming critical relationships. The reality is that we are still a long way from the healthy logistics environment that will enable true economic growth. And Transnet is just one example of our polite sidestepping of difficult matters. Telecommunications, mining, manufacturing and other sectors all bear the scars of underinvestment and incoherent policies.

We hear endlessly of “turnaround strategies” and the National Development Plan, and for a while the top priority was a “national dialogue”. But we rarely see the urgency, energy and drive needed to turn plans into action. Consider the Durban Container Terminal Pier 2: two years after the losing bidder took Transnet to court over a technicality, progress is too slow. The challenge should have been resolved through direct negotiations at the highest levels years ago. Instead, we slouch toward tomorrow, hoping that change is on its way.

This reluctance to confront failure openly does not serve us. South Africa cannot grow its economy, create jobs, or feed, clothe and house its people on polite half-truths. It requires candour, courage, and the bravery to speak plainly.

The good news is that we can have a national dialogue. It requires businesses, experts, leaders and citizens to speak up, in the media and directly to our democratically elected government. Honesty may sting, but it is the only starting point for real change.

– Gerhard Mulder
Account Manager