President Cyril Ramaphosa vowed that Transnet would shed itself of incompetence and address the major backlogs at the country’s ports. If not, it could see the economy continue to bleed. On Thursday, the president visited the port of Richards Bay after Transnet said it was considering blocking trucks from delivering cargo to the port due to a "logistics nightmare" caused by hundreds of coal trucks snarling up the road into town. The Road Freight Association slammed the plan as "completely crazy". Richards Bay is far from the only port facing severe difficulties. According to the South African Association of Freight Forwarders, Transnet inefficiencies at the country’s ports were costing the economy R98-million a day in direct, sunken costs and at least R26-million a day in indirect costs. Port chaos was impeding at least R7-billion worth of goods from moving every day. Around 71 000 containers are stuck on ships outside the port of Durban, a backlog which port officials say they will only be able to clear by next year. In an address to reporters, Ramaphosa expressed confidence in Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and Transnet executives’ ability to resolve issues contributing to the slow movement of goods at the ports.