Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has invited private investors to bid for a 25-year concession to operate and develop the multipurpose terminal at the Port of Cape Town.
The successful bidder will be responsible for financing, designing, constructing or refurbishing, equipping, operating and maintaining the terminal.
The process is currently at the request-for-proposal stage, and no private operator has been appointed.
Operator to fund upgrades at its own risk
TNPA will not prescribe the full extent of the work required.
Instead, the successful bidder will be expected to assess the terminal and determine what infrastructure, construction work and equipment are needed to bring it into full operation and improve its capacity.
“The appointed terminal operator will be required to determine the extent of the construction, the terminal infrastructure, and the equipment required for terminal operations,” TNPA said in the tender documentation.
The investment will be made entirely at the operator’s own cost and risk.
According to TNPA, neither it nor any other public authority will provide a guarantee, subsidy, grant or other financial support for the project.
The concession model places responsibility for raising capital and improving operations on the future operator while the terminal remains part of the public port system.
Terminal handles a wide range of cargo
The multipurpose terminal handles bulk, break-bulk and containerised cargo, including fertiliser, grain, steel, cement, soda ash and agricultural products.
It operates alongside the separate Cape Town Container Terminal.
The distinction is important because the latest World Bank and S&P Global Container Port Performance Index ranked Cape Town last among the container ports assessed. The index measures container-vessel performance and does not evaluate the multipurpose terminal that is now being offered to private bidders.
Transnet has separately invested in the container terminal through new cargo-handling equipment and a planned expansion towards an annual capacity of 1.4 million 20-foot equivalent units.
Unlike those upgrades, the multipurpose terminal concession requires the future operator to determine and fund the improvements needed.
Part of Transnet’s broader strategy
The tender forms part of Transnet’s wider effort to introduce private capital and operating expertise into South Africa’s logistics network.
In December 2025, Transnet and Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services signed a 25-year partnership to modernise and operate Durban Container Terminal Pier 2. ICTSI is expected to invest about R11 billion, with capacity targeted to increase from two million to 2.8 million containers a year.
TNPA also opened a separate tender in May for a 25-year liquid-bulk terminal concession at the Port of Cape Town.
For the multipurpose terminal, Transnet is seeking an operator prepared to take on both the investment costs and the commercial risk associated with the project.
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