Andre Klynsmith

Cargo Handling

The Recovery Leaves Durban: New Handling Equipment Reaches Gqeberha and Cape Town

South Africa's port equipment recovery is finally reaching beyond Durban. In 2026 the Port Elizabeth Container Terminal is set to take delivery of 12 straddle carriers, while Cape Town receives 28 rubber-tyred gantry cranes and straddle carriers -- a spread of new container-handling machinery into the secondary terminals that operators have long been told to treat as fallback options.

Cargo Handling

10 August 2026 • 4 min read

New straddle carriers and gantry cranes at Gqeberha and Cape Town mean the container-handling recovery is no longer a Durban-only story. For operators, that changes which terminals are worth re-testing on a live routing decision.

The Recovery Spreads Down the Coast

Transnet's equipment recapitalisation began where the pain was greatest. The Durban Container Terminal, the busiest on the continent, took delivery of more than 100 pieces of new handling equipment -- including 20 straddle carriers for Pier 2 and nine RTGs for Pier 1 -- under a R3.4 billion recovery-plan investment, with machines arriving through the first half of 2025. That was the emergency phase, concentrated on the terminal that moves the most boxes.

In 2026 the programme reaches the secondary terminals. The Port Elizabeth Container Terminal is due to receive 12 straddle carriers, and Cape Town is set for 28 RTGs and straddle carriers -- on top of the four hybrid straddle carriers Cape Town already put into service earlier in the year. Handling capacity, in other words, is being rebuilt across the network rather than hoarded at a single gateway.

Why the Handling Machine Decides the Truck's Day

Straddle carriers and RTGs are the workhorses that move containers between the stack, the quay and the truck. When they are too few or too often broken down, boxes cannot be lifted on schedule, the stack clogs, and trucks wait at the gate no matter how quickly ships are worked. Equipment availability is one of the clearest levers on how long a haulier's vehicle sits at a terminal -- and it is exactly the lever this programme is pulling at Gqeberha and Cape Town.

More machines do not fix everything. Cape Town still battles wind downtime, seasonal reefer peaks and constrained stacking space, and new equipment only helps once operators are trained and the units are reliably in service. But a terminal with enough working handling equipment has removed one of the biggest structural causes of truck delay -- and that is worth re-checking against last year's assumptions.

Re-Test the Secondary Terminals on Current Data

For operators who route on reputation, the equipment spread is a prompt to update. A terminal written off two years ago for chronic handling delays may now be running a materially different operation once its new straddle carriers and RTGs are bedded in. The only way to know is to measure current truck turnaround, terminal by terminal, rather than rely on a reputation formed during the worst of the equipment shortage.

That measurement is itself a commercial asset. An operator who can show a customer real, current turnaround data for Gqeberha or Cape Town -- and route around the weakest terminal on any given week -- is selling reliability, not just capacity. As handling capacity decentralises, the advantage moves to the operators who track where the boxes are actually flowing fastest.

About the Author
	Andre Klynsmith Entrepreneur & Technology Enthusiast Andre's expertise spans technology, blockchain, transport, and logistics -- with a passion for innovation and driving positive change across industries. info@laaimylorrie.com | laaimylorrie.com