State-run logistics company Transnet has come out swinging after a World Bank report ranked the South African ports it runs the worst-performing in the world.

Not mincing its words, the state-owned enterprise said it "denounces World Bank Port Performance Index factual errors".

The report found the ports in Cape Town and Ngqura, in the Eastern Cape, were the world's worst performing and least competitive in 2023, ranking them 405th and 404th respectively out of 405 assessed globally.

The Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) clearly touched a nerve, and Transnet has come out swinging.

"On 10 June 2024, Transnet met with World Bank representatives to discuss factual errors in its recent 2023 Container Port Performance Index," Transnet said on Wednesday, 12 June.

"The Bank incorrectly uses the duration of a vessel's stay as a measure of container port cargo handling performance, relied on third-party sample data and failed to give a measured terminal access to the data sample for verification prior to publication," it said.

The World Bank had not yet responded to Daily Maverick's request for comment at the time of publication.

"While the World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data in the report, the results purport to be an indicative measure of port performance. In the meeting, the Bank's Transport Specialists advised that the CPPI is not a comprehensive...