Thursday, 13 August 2026

Transport Minister Barbara Creecy said the Port of Cape Town recovery plan will bring freight agents, vessel owners and Transnet into one war room from September, after 32 days of wind disruption wrecked last season’s fruit exports.

Transnet has spent R2.5 billion on equipment upgrades, with new ship-to-shore cranes due by year-end; Cape Town fruit will also be redirected to Gqeberha when weather or timing makes that safer.

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is continuing via smaller vessels, transponders switched off and cargo transferred offshore, but attacks and insurance costs are rising sharply as Iran keeps the route under threat.

Economist Khanti Pai argued South Africa’s middle class is much smaller than people assume, with many households effectively stuck in lower-income brackets and forced to spend heavily on transport, schooling and private services because the state falls short.

Investment School boiled down quality investing as buying stable, well-managed companies with strong balance sheets, while value investing means backing cheap shares only when there is a clear catalyst for recovery and enough patience to wait for it.