Deputy Minister Seiso Mohai: Frontline oversight monitoring visit to Ports of Richards Bay and Durban

Deputy Minister of Transport Mr Mkhuleko Hlengwa
Councillor Skhumbuzo Dlamini
Chief Executive Officer of SANRAL, Mr Demana
Chief Executive Officer of Transnet, Ms Michelle Philips
All Leaders from the different spheres of Government
Senior Government Officials
Traditional Leaders

We are in KwaZulu-Natal Province as part of our on-going work on planning, monitoring and evaluation. We will cover Durban Port, Richards Bay Port as well as the N2 Road leading to the Port of Richards Bay. I will be visiting these sites together with the Deputy Minister of Transport, uMphephethwa Mkhuleko Hlengwa over the next two days to assess the functionality and resourcing of these ports as they play a key role in South Africa’s maritime economy in bulk cargo, mineral and raw material exports. Also, to obtain insights on the traffic delays and truck immobilisation along the N2 road towards the south.

We have in our midst the leadership of the province and also Senior Executives from SANRAL, Transnet and other government official.
It is our intention identify immediate and long-term interventions that can be recommended to the relevant authorities and to strengthen interdepartmental collaboration to resolve challenges and improve efficiency.

Our two-day program will entail
(a) an Intergovernmental Briefing on functionality and resourcing of the Ports by key departments and entities,
(b) Frontline Monitoring Visits to key areas and Game-Changing Projects.

The government has set up an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Local Government, whereby infrastructure is prioritised and receives Ministerial attention. Infrastructure South Africa (ISA) was also established to assist in the rollout of projects. The Budget Facility for Infrastructure at National Treasury, which used to have one window for municipalities to apply for funding has now increased the windows to enable municipalities more opportunities to access funding to complete infrastructure projects.

In addition to the above, we will be engaging with the Ministry of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs to discuss ways to strengthen consequence management on incomplete infrastructure projects.

Indeed, there is hope for economic growth. All government departments have submitted their Annual Performance Plans (APPs) in full compliance and alignment with the MTDP. The next steps are for all clusters and departments have to define the inclusion and role of the private sector in the respective sectoral plans.

The other response is the work that has commenced on the coordination of economic policies fiscal policy, competition policy, industrial policy etc.

Between November – December each year the DPME conducts an assessment of the draft Annual Performance Plans (APPs) of national departments. This includes assessing the alignment between the draft APPs and the Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) to ensure that departments are considering priority interventions within their plans. The APPs of departments include outputs and the corresponding budget programmes thus allowing departments to align planned outputs, targets and budgets.

Additionally, National Treasury is also leading a budget reform process, as announced by the Minister of Finance at the tabling of the National Budget. This process includes a workstream to improve alignment between the national budget process and the planning, monitoring and evaluation processes. DPME is part of this workstream. As highlighted by National Treasury, the reforms will be rolled out over the next Medium Term Expenditure Framework period.

Just to re-iterate in summary, we are here to:

• Emphasize the government’s commitment to infrastructure development and efficient service delivery as part of economic growth and job creation, following President Ramaphosa’s 2025 State of the Nation Address.
• Highlight the purpose of the visit: to assess the functionality, resourcing, and efficiency of the Port of Richards Bay, and to engage with stakeholders such as Transnet on upgrades including new cranes and port equipment.
• Address challenges such as truck congestion and freight movement along the N2 corridor, aiming to identify practical short- and long-term interventions.
• Stress the importance of strengthening interdepartmental collaboration to improve infrastructure delivery and economic efficiency.
• Reiterate the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation’s role in evaluating government priorities and proposing solutions to improve service delivery and economic outcomes.
• Encourage active participation and coordination among national, provincial, and local government representatives present, as well as with key stakeholders, to ensure integrated planning and effective implementation of projects.
• Reference ongoing projects like the development of Berth 605 and associated infrastructure to support container handling at the port, demonstrating progress on strategic port expansion plans.
• Call for continuous monitoring and accountability to ensure that improvements in port operations translate into broader economic benefits for the region and country.

Lastly, the DPME is enhancing its M&E tools to incorporate the assessment of expenditure against performance as a way to improve alignment of public spending with performance outcomes.

Thank you

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