Taxpayer, not truckers, are paying for damage to roads RAY SMUTS TRANSPORT MINISTER Jeff Radebe painted a picture of a tired freight transport system posing not only a major safety threat but dragging the South African economy down at the same time at last week’s International Railway Safety Conference in Somerset West. He made it clear that the entire freight system, from harbour to rail operations, was hampered by a lack of infrastructure, absence of integrated planning, large information gaps and a serious shortage of skills. What is more, he said, quoting from the National Freight Logistics Strategy report adopted by government, neither infrastructure nor assets had been properly maintained. The report stresses the country’s development is dependent primarily on its ability to move goods and deliver services with speed and reliability. Whereas South Africa has ‘unhappily’ witnessed a shift of freight from rail to road transport, restoring the reliability of rail transport is the single biggest factor facing South Africa. The conference was told the taxpayer rather than the trucking industry was coughing up for the damage to South Africa’s road network, hence the notion that road-transported goods appeared to be cheaper than they actually were. Riad Khan, chief director of freight logistics at the department of transport, says the objective, quite apart from a more reliable and cheaper service, is to up rail transport capacity by 30% over the next five years. He adds strategy goals involving greater competition and co-operation between the private and public sectors, coupled with a simplified regulatory environment, should take shape within three years, in accordance with Transnet’s pull-together strategy. Khan maintains the promise of lower costs, larger capacity and more efficient services in every respect of freight logistics ought to bring about growth and job creation to a greater degree and in so doing, give the South African economy a considerable push-up.
