Lengthy border delays push up demand for express services

Despite the aftermath of the global
crisis, Africa is still a good market
for SA exporters, according to
Alwyn Nel, MD of Kingfisher
Freight Services.
“There’s still enough business
for us to be able to offer land, air
and consolidation services,” he
told FTW. “Express services are
also doing well because standard
consolidation services are taking
anything up to 7-8 days to get
through the border posts.”
That’s also having an adverse
effect on optimising vehicle use,
with stand-down time just eating up
profits, or forcing rate increases on
the industry.
Nel said that this was a special
problem with Zimbabwe, but the
same slow pattern was appearing in
Mozambique and Zambia.
“Express costs more, but the
clients are getting their stuff there
quicker, “he added, “and turning
their money round quicker.”
The customs modernisation
programme being applied at the
border has not been as disastrous as
many predicted.
Said Nel: “Co-operation of service
providers with the SA Revenue
Service (Sars) customs meant things
went much better than most people
expected.”
The possible closure of the
Groblersdrif border post (a handy
alternative route between SA and
Zambia via Botswana – and avoiding
the Zimbabwe back-up) is still being
discussed.
“They want to restrict the cargo
using that post to RIT only – where
cargo is still in bond and has to be
offloaded at a border warehouse,
then uplifted by an over-border
transporter for onward transport to
its destination,” Nel said.
It’s supposed to be easier for
customs to manage, although Nel
can’t see how. “And obviously
preventing duty-paid cargo leaving
through the border pushes the
transporters’ and exporters’ costs up.
Don’t see the sense in it.”
On the SA-Africa trade, Nel sees
volumes increasing substantially.
“And it’s not only exports from
SA,” he told FTW, “but foreignsourced
goods in transit via SA, and
then transported by road as far north
as the DRC.
“That’s becoming a larger volume
day by day – and the fact is that SA
is becoming a recognised hub for
incoming, overborder cargoes.”