Logistics industry rises to Western Cape disaster challenge

In less than a week, South
Africa’s logistics industry
has managed to deliver over
300 tonnes of emergency
supplies sourced from all
over the country to victims
of the fires that broke out
in the Western Cape earlier
this month, according to
Gift of the Givers project
coordinator, Emily Thomas.
Acting on behalf of the
Knysna local municipality,
the aid organisation set up
a joint operations centre in
Knysna to coordinate the
distribution of aid parcels
to the more than 10 000
people that were displaced
after the devastating fires
broke out on June 8. “We
have been working very
closely with numerous
transport and logistics
companies who have been
delivering goods from all
over the country via air
and road since last week,”
Thomas told FTW, and
this included DHL Express
Sub-Saharan Africa as well
as independent transport
companies and retail
distributors who offered
their services at no charge.
When the fires broke
out, DHL Express deployed
its local cross business
unit disaster response
team to rapidly deliver
essential supplies such
as non-perishable food
items, blankets, clothing
and first-aid equipment
to the region via road as
well as helicopter. The
company also opened up
its 39 locations across
South Africa as additional
drop-off points where
people could donate nonperishable
foods and other
emergency supplies.
“Working closely with the
Western Cape government
and Gift of the Givers,
we arranged to collect
donated aid from all the
fire stations in Cape Town,
as well as our 39 locations
across the country, in order
to transport emergency
supplies for displaced
families in the fastest
possible time via road as
well as air freight,” said
Megan Roper, head of
marketing for DHL Express
Sub-Saharan Africa.
Airlink Cargo provided
space for relief supplies
from various parts of the
country, including 93 boxes
of clothing, food, dog food,
linen and toiletries from
the Skukuza community in
Mpumalanga and several
boxes of similar items from
Pietermaritzburg. DHL
Express transported the
goods via road from the
airports.
FP du Toit Transport
sent its first full truck from
Johannesburg to Knysna
on the Saturday after the
fires broke out and was
transporting a number of
loads last week as well,
according to operations
manager for the group,
Terblanche Liebenberg.
“Our staff also
volunteered their time over
the weekend to help pack
up the trucks and deliver
the goods – and of course
we haven’t charged a cent
for anything related to the
packing and distribution
of the goods,” he said. Once
the goods were delivered,
the FP du Toit driver
also picked up furniture
and other items that had
survived the devastating
fires for safe storage in
Plettenberg Bay until the
owners are in a position to
reclaim their belongings.
The South African Long
Distance Truckers Facebook
group also served as a
platform for information
about transport needs for
relief supplies and members
offered their services.
CAPTION
A Working on Fire (WOF) helicopter refuels before taking off for another emergency supplies
delivery.
CAPTION
A selection of the goods transported to Knysna via FP du Toit
Transport.