South Africa’s commercial ports are managed by the Transnet National Ports Authority, which provides and maintains port infrastructure, organises marine-related services, and offers navigation aid and assistance to vessels along the coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to recent statistics from the Outlier, Durban port remains the busiest in the country, despite a slight overall decline from 3,061 arrivals in 2018 to 2,939 in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Durban Harbour consistently maintained its position as the country’s highest-volume port throughout the charted period from 2018 to 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cape Town’s port is the only major harbour that showed a significant upward trajectory, increasing from 1,604 arrivals in 2018 to 2,235 in 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cape Town Harbour has overtaken Richards Bay as South Africa’s second busiest port since 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Richards Bay Harbour experienced a decline, dropping from 1,922 ship dockings in 2018 to 1,438 in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GroundUp reported that Richards Bay, on the KwaZulu-Natal coast and primarily used for coal exports, has faced port coal shortages due to inefficiencies in Transnet’s rail operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although ship dockings are still below 2018 levels, Richards Bay Harbour has reportedly seen improvements in rail operations and infrastructure upgrades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Located 160 km northeast of Durban, Richards Bay was established in 1976 primarily for coal exports. It features 23 berths, a 300m-wide entrance channel, and six specialised cargo terminals, handling about 60% of South Africa\u2019s annual seaborne cargo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As one of Africa’s busiest ports, Durban handles over 86 million tons of cargo annually. It serves as a key trade gateway between South Africa and international markets, with about 60% of the country’s imports and exports passing through. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The port includes 58 berths and a cruise terminal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Situated at the mouth of the Buffalo River, East London is South Africa’s only river port, strategically linking Africa with global markets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It has 11 commercial berths, with G berth commonly used for cruise liners, despite there being no official cruise facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ngqura, operational since 2009, is a deep-water harbour near Port Elizabeth and part of the Coega Industrial Development Zone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It serves as a transhipment hub and features South Africa’s longest breakwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Located in Algoa Bay, Port Elizabeth handles various types of cargo and has 12 berths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Its container terminal has three berths and is equipped with container handling equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the smallest commercial port, Mossel Bay has historical significance for European seafarers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It primarily supports the fishing industry and has facilities for processing catches, though it lacks dedicated passenger ship facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Located near Table Mountain, Cape Town’s port is important for trade between Europe and the Americas and has a history dating back to 1652. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It supports the regional fishing industry and tourist attractions like the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, alongside modern cargo facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n South Africa’s ports\u2014the key gateways into the country\u2014have seen the highest number of ship dockings since 2019, recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic-related slowdowns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":854424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[25052],"class_list":["post-854400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-south-african-harbours"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=854400"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":854568,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854400\/revisions\/854568"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/854424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Untitled-design-8-1024x576.png\")
<\/a>South Africa’s ports<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/durban-harbour-1024x576.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nRichards Bay<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nDurban <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nEast London <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nNgqura<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nGqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nMossel Bay <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCape Town<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"