Address the issues or miss out, says JCCI’s Brebnor
JOY ORLEK
IF SOUTH Africa is to achieve its targeted annual
growth of 6%, Johannesburg’s economy needs
to grow by at least 9% per annum, a recentlyundertaken
Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce
and Industry survey has revealed.
“Over the last decade Johannesburg has grown
at 4.7% compared to the SA average of 3.2%. In
2005 and 2 006 it achieved 6% growth,” Chamber
CEO Keith Brebnor told FTW.
The target is not unrealistic, but several
impediments stand in the way.
A shortage of skilled staff, the high cost of
doing business, poor government service delivery
and poor infrastructure are just a few.
And these issues need to be seen in a global
context. “Our telecommunication costs, for
example, are too high,” says Brebnor, pointing
out that in India proposals are in place for free
broadband access.
Add to that high transport costs, constraints
in the harbours, customs delays, rail and road
congestion and high costs of security, and the
enormity of the challenge is clear.
“The road network and the public transport
system need urgent attention before we get
totally gridlocked by 2 010,” says Brebnor, “a
spectre raised by the SA National Roads Agency
whose startling statistics illustrate the point."
Roads in Gauteng now carry 534 vehicles per
10 kilometres of road. This is around four times
more than the Western Cape, the next busiest
province.
Last year 2 38 621 vehicles hit Gauteng roads
– 13.4% more than in 2 005, and in December
2006, vehicles in Gauteng numbered around
2.7 million – more than the rest of the SADC.
“Johannesburg and the province desperately
need more road capacity,” says Brebnor. “The
present budgets at provincial and metro level are
totally inadequate and traffic is already nearing
gridlock during normal business commuting
hours,” he said.
And while enhanced public transport plans
are welcome, they will stem rather than reverse
growth of private vehicle utilisation and make no
impact on growth in road freight movement, in
his view.
The resulting congestion impacts on trade
and business deliveries contributing to a lack
of competitiveness and adversely affecting the
bottom line of business, all of which pushes up
the overall cost of doing business.
If Johannesburg is to achieve anywhere near
the 9% per annum growth rate, the province will
need to address these business challenges sooner
rather than later – or risk missing the global
competitiveness boat.
