SA hauliers plan to give Zambia its own medicine

Alan Peat QUID PRO quo is the reply from SA road hauliers to Zambia's imposition of a ZK100-million (R210 526) bond for all foreign carriers transiting Zambia, according to Mike Alistoun of the Road Freight Association (RFA). "If this is what they want to do," he told FTW, "then we should do it to all Zambian truckers as well. "We are currently discussing this with the Department of Finance." However, despite the carriers' chagrin at the Zambian transit rule, it has been somewhat lessened as the Zambian authorities have conceded one major point following loud protests from the SA truckers. At the original RFA meeting on this issue, c.e.o. Herman Lemmer highlighted the fact that the licence was required for each carrier but the cost was multiplied by the number of entry points that the carrier used in his transit trips through Zambia. "The cost could therefore be doubled, trebled, or easily quadrupled, if the carrier is a regular user of the northern routes through Zambia," he said. "With more than 500 individual operators already looking for customs carrier licences, this could cost the SA trucking industry up to R500-m in bonds." But the RFA directly communicated their concern about this directly to SA finance minister Trevor Manuel, requesting that ministerial-level dialogue take place to resolve this frightening cost. Since then, various discussions have taken place between the respective authorities and, according to Alistoun, the Zambians have given way on this contentious condition. "They have now agreed to make the bond a straight K100-m per carrier or transport operator," he told FTW, "and no longer related to the number of transits." But - questioned on the industry's reaction - Alistoun suggested that the carriers felt that the level of the bond was still too high. "A similar charge levied on Zambian truckers entering SA might be one way to get them to rethink this issue," Alistoun added. "We've put this to our government contacts and asked them for an answer."