Logistics survey calls for first aid for ports and rail

SOUTH AFRICA needs to urgently
review its high internal logistics
costs at all levels and address the
issues and challenges, especially
those related to inland and crossborder
transportation.
That’s the finding of the
fourth State of Logistics Survey
undertaken by the Council for
Scientific and Industrial Research
(CSIR) and released last week.
Although SA is ranked 24th
out of 150 countries on the World
Bank's logistics performance index
(LPI), it is only rated 124th based
on logistics expenditure, according
to the report.
This, according to the CSIR, can
be ascribed to a number of logistics
hurdles – such as inadequate
infrastructure and processes at
ports and borders.
“The growth in logistics,
transportation and ocean freight
underlines the positive economic
development that SA, as well as
the southern African region, has
experienced over the past couple
of years,” said CSIR’s Hans Ittmann.
“In order to maintain this trend
and increase our international
competitiveness, we urgently need
to develop our southern African
ports and rail infrastructure to
handle the increased demand for
freight and transportation in the
most cost-effective and
efficient way.”
The CSIR noted that capital
expenditure had been planned for
port expansion and development
as part of Transnet's overall freight
logistics strategy.
Within the next five years,
Transnet is expected to spend some
R80-bn on such developments –
designed to significantly improve
SA’s port and rail infrastructure,
while decreasing congestion on the
roads in metropolitan areas.
“However,” said the report,
“in the short- to medium-term,
the situation will continue to
be challenging and will require
intelligent solutions from logistics
and supply chain managers.”