Mothlanthe pushes rail imperative at RFA conference

South Africa has no choice but to increase the use of rail freight if it wants to reduce the cost of logistics in the country and boost economic growth, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe told delegates at last week’s annual conference of the Road Freight Association (RFA) in Phalaborwa. “The biggest challenge, however, to the freight logistics system is the ineffective rail/road split. Although government has elevated the importance of infrastructure development on the national agenda, road continues to dominate the freight industry,” he said. “The Presidential Infrastructure Co-Coordinating committee is starting to formulate plans that seek to address that rail/road split. According to our 2010 figures the division of cargo between road and rail is 88.8% on road and only 11.2% on rail.”