By Paul Matthew, Global Cold Chain Alliance director for Africa
Africa’s cold chain industry is investing in the skills, facilities and equipment fit for substantial future growth.
However, an efficient, resilient and expanding cold chain also needs reliable, modern infrastructure and transportation. As well as providing support for operators, creating networks for members and working for an expedient policy environment, GCCA’s work in Africa seeks solutions to the infrastructure barriers and chokepoints that affect day-to-day operations. The Port of Durban is one such key focus. GCCA is working alongside Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) and Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) on a Durban-Johannesburg reefer rail pilot, to enhance efficiency and reduce detrimental congestion at the Port of Durban.
Pilots like these are crucial for southern Africa’s supply chains, international trade capabilities, and economy. In one new approach, Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) and Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) are exploring a plan to transport imported reefer containers by rail directly from Durban to City Deep in Johannesburg.
Following discussions at the 2025 GCCA Africa Cold Chain Conference in Durban, Transnet requested advice and information from GCCA on the regulatory and operational feasibility of this shift, and to collaborate on this pilot project with Transnet, SA Government (Veterinary Services), Border Management Authority, and GCCA members in South Africa.
As the biggest port in southern Africa, the problems at the Port of Durban throughout the 2020s continue to have a substantial impact on trade and logistics, including temperature-controlled logistics. Alongside the riots in 2022, damage from floods and disruptions during periods of load-shedding, a lack of upgrades to infrastructure and equipment over the past five decades have led to a dated, congested, and at times barely operational port. However, there is cause for positivity, with new investment aiming to bring the port back to its once world-leading status.
For logistics operators, the congestion and inefficiencies at the Port of Durban are compounded by the issues with journeying to and from the port by road. The N3 corridor sees 4 500 heavy vehicles each day, southbound and northbound. The road condition has deteriorated, and the route has become a major bottleneck. Long delays and severe disruption are particularly challenging when the goods being transported need to be kept at controlled temperatures.
The ambition to start railing import reefer containers directly to Johannesburg would help tackle several major issues with which logistics businesses and their customers must currently contend. A shift to rail would reduce congestion at the Port of Durban, and along the N3 Corridor. It would accelerate container evacuation from the Port, and it could also help restore greater certainty for importers and exporters.
A critical success factor for this initiative is the ability for veterinary inspection and release protocols to take place in City Deep, Johannesburg, rather than only taking place in the Port of Durban. This change would allow for direct rail movement of reefer containers from the port to inland cold storage facilities. It would reduce dwell time and congestion at the port, supporting cold chain integrity through faster turnaround and reduced handling. It would bring wider benefits, helping reduce the current heavy vehicle traffic along the N3 corridor.
As the director of GCCA Africa, I have been pleased to participate in meetings with relevant groups who would need to be involved in a pilot project. The response to this concept has been very positive. A number of challenges have been identified, but it is encouraging to discuss potential paths forward with veterinarians, port authorities, government officials and GCCA members.
Among the core challenges: completing veterinary inspection and release protocols away from the port would require a regulatory shift. However, the ambition of the project aligns with national objectives to promote rail as a preferred mode of freight transport, and to decentralise port-based inspections where feasible.
This initiative is also considering estimates showing that rail transport could take three days, while road transport should take about 24 hours. However, when the Port of Durban and the N3 Corridor are congested, trucks moving goods out of the bayhead area can sit idle for several days.
Another challenge for the pilot project is that many frozen protein products are required to go through SPS. GCCA is looking to speak with businesses that are importing and moving products which do not require SPS, such as frozen pizzas or pet food.
GCCA is committed to supporting cold chain businesses in Africa to operate, grow and invest. Strategic collaboration is crucial to tackling industry-wide challenges and we will continue to drive forward collaborative pilot projects such as this on behalf of GCCA members. For more information or to support the reefer rail pilot, please contact Paul Matthew at pmatthew@gcca.org.