Logistics has fast become one of the biggest challenges for the mining sector, which is struggling to deliver products competitively in the face of ongoing bottlenecks and congestion.According to Duncan Wanblad, CE of Anglo American, logistics is one of the three primary challenges that need to be fixed urgently – along with corruption and energy.“We don’t always appreciate the geographic advantage that South Africa has or should enjoy. It is situated on one of the busiest international sea routes and the country has half of all railways in southern Africa, but we are fast losing the advantage we have.”Wanblad said the rail and port infrastructure was in a poor condition and operational performance was at record lows. “These essential arteries of trade are obvious areas for change through liberalisation. Mining, manufacturing and agriculture are all the lifeblood of the economy. Reconfiguring the operation of the ports and rail operations using proven concession models from elsewhere will allow us to push through far more volumes on what is currently a very constrained system.”He said it was not about complaining or criticism, but about finding solutions, and the mining sector had been ready to help for some time. “One of our contributions is a detailed and readily implementable proposal for the running of the rail and ports to a world-class standard, transforming Transnet to a world-class standard. The proposal includes suggestions on how to access capital to fix the deteriorating infrastructure by upgrading and rehabilitating it. It also addresses how we can accelerate the introduction of emerging miners onto the rail network.”Wanblad said the proposal was also aligned with existing government policy, emphasising that intransigence should be replaced by collaboration to move it forward with immediate effect. “From the mining sector side, there is no obstruction to moving this forward and seeing it readily implemented,” he said. “It is very clear what we need to do. We have to improve the quality of rail and ports in the country. The inability to do so will see South Africa become uncompetitive, while the opposite will see economic activity increase immed iately.”He said the mining sector recognised the difficulties faced by Transnet. “We as an industry also face challenges, including bad supply chains. The fact remains that port and rail networks should be sources of great competitive advantage for South Africa. Ownership and operatorship need to be defined.”Corruption, said Wanblad, was another evil that needed to be rooted out. “To a certain extent, the three challenges – corruption, energy and logistics – are all connected. Corruption is driving the crime that is grinding the energy and logistics sectors into the ground. Corruption and crime are cancers that are eating away at our entire economy on a horrific scale, and they must be eradicated. The State has to act now. If we address these issues as quickly as possible, we can still turn the tide around,” he said. “The enquiries and the commissioners have done the work. We now need action. We are encouraged by the numerous partnerships between the Minerals Council and the South African Police Service as well as Transnet.”From an energy point of view, Wanblad said some progress had been made, but the country’s power crisis had hit the mining sector hard. “The system is close to failing, and it will take some time to get new capacity on board. We need to reset the generating capability of Eskom while what is left of the utility must be stabilised. The mining sector is already partnering at the most practical level possible to support the security of coal supply to Eskom.”
