Emergency food relief keeps Chrisilda busy

JAMES HALL SWAZILAND SHIPPERS look to Chrisilda Transport as a faster but just as reliable alternative to rail when they use Durban’s port. “It’s a seven hour truck trip to Durban for us, and some customers need that speed,” said managing director Sikelela Vilakati. Former company accountant Vilakati took over the helm last year, becoming the first non-Dupont family member to run the firm since it was founded by Chris and Hilda Dupont (Chris + Hilda = Chrisilda) in the mid-1970s. Swaziland’s food crisis, necessitating emergency food relief shipments as the country faces its smallest harvests in history, are keeping Chrisilda busy, along with the shipping requirements of regular customers. Companies that have come to rely on Chrisilda include Sappi (forestry products), Swaziland Milling (processed cereal products), Mananga Prepackers and Tex Ray garments. The most popular destinations for Chrisilda’s fleet of 40-plus transport vehicles are Durban, Gauteng and Cape Town. Vilakati credits “ability and efficiency” for Chrisilda’s on-going success. Despite the uneven performance of the national economy, there is still a need to move goods and raw materials in and out of the country. 80% of Swaziland’s imports, including all its petroleum products, originate in South Africa. The symbiotic economic ties between the two countries – the trade ministry just announced that South Africa absorbs an alltime high percentage of Swaziland’s exports, over 60% – are reflected in Chrisilda’s strategy of purchasing more tipper trucks for use in South Africa.