On an expansion trail CROSS-BORDER operator Afri-Haul is set for major expansion.
On the cards is its evolution into a fully-fledged transport company, the acquisition of an over-the-border business, the purchase of more vehicles and, above all, its relocation to a huge new facility in 1998.
We are moving ahead with big plans which will give us one of the most advanced operations in the country in the near future, says executive chairman Mahesh Ranchhod.
Already linked with Zambia's Kabwe Transport International (KTI) in services between South Africa and Zambia, the former Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), Zimbabwe, Malawi and Maputo, Afri-Haul has acquired the business of a former Botswana company, turning itself from a contractor to an actual transport company.
In the past Afr-Haul were purely local managing agents for KTI. Now they have 65 heavy vehicles of their own, operating principally on the South Africa-Zambia-Congo routes, plus a sub-contracted fleet of 25 vehicles serving Zimbabwe, Malawi and Maputo.
We are planning a vast expansion programme with an additional 10 vehicles to be added to the fleet by the year's end and another 20 next year, says Ranchhod.
All vehicles are continuously monitored and tracked, with radio-equipped route patrollers in constant contact with all operators.
We are looking at the tremendous growth potential in the Copperbelt and Congo areas. With KTI based in Zambia, we are ideally placed to serve our customers who wish to consign goods to or from Gauteng and any of the regions we serve. KTI, with whom they work closely, have a large Zambian corporate base with 50 years of service behind them, and now handle BP, Caltex, Swarp Spinning, which is Zambia's major industrial outlet, Shoprite and Pep Stores.
