SA transporter preference riles regional hauliers

Regional transporters

are fed up with losing

work to South African

companies for projects

in their countries.

The Kazungula bridge project

is one of the

major bugbears.

“Here is this

major project

involving

Botswana and

Zambia and one

would think

that Botswana

and Zambian

companies

would benefit

– but it would

seem there

is a preference for South

African companies,” said

one transporter to whom

FTW spoke. “There are many

companies that are feeling they

are being left out logistically

speaking. The assumption

is that only South African

companies can handle the

project, volumes and the

intricacies involved with such a

project which is just not true.”

Transporters said they

were not the only companies

affronted by

this; clearing

and forwarding

agents were

also affected.

“There is this

notion that to

handle this

kind of work

it has to be a

major company

and that they

are all based in

South Africa.

Companies in Botswana and

Zambia are just as capable

of handling these projects –

regardless of the scale.”

It was imperative that local

companies benefited from local

projects just as South African

companies benefited from their

local work, he said.

“There really is a lot of

unhappiness around the big

capital projects not using local

companies.”

For this reason local content

has become an essential

element in many African

countries. Local hire is fast

becoming the norm and

governments are insisting

that the hiring of staff

should not be limited

to unskilled labour. In

some countries such

as Ghana and Nigeria

there’s a prerequisite

that local hire levels

should be up to 50% of

the work force.

“Imagine the outcry

if a local Botswana

company were to

get a major contract

for Eskom, putting

local South African

transporters out of business.

It would not be accepted, yet

it is expected from us,” said

another transporter. “If these

projects used local companies

the impact on the local economy

would be significant.”

INSERT

The assumption is that

only South African

companies can handle the

project volumes and the

intricacies involved which

is just not true.