Safmarine ups its game in Gauteng

Safmarine Southern Africa,

a division of the Maersk

Group, has seen “much

better than expected”

import volumes to South Africa

for the first six months of the year

– largely driven

by increased

local consumer

demand and

Gauteng’s

booming

automotive

sector.

“Exports

remain below

expectations,

despite the weak

currency, but this

market is driven

by the mining

commodities

which are under pressure,” said Dirk

Hoffmann, managing director of

Safmarine Southern Africa.

He told FTW that Gauteng, as the

“powerhouse” of the South African

economy, had a significant impact

on import and export volumes and

where the country was likely to see

the most growth “if we can harness

the full potential of our people and

resources”.

Hoffmann commented that the

province remained an important

gateway to the landlocked countries

of southern Africa – Zimbabwe,

Botswana, Zambia and Malawi –

but added that

for the hinterland

beyond South

Africa’s borders

there were

alternative ports,

including Walvis

Bay, Maputo,

Beira, Nacala

and Pemba.

“There

are ongoing

investments in

these ports and

improvements

in road and rail

links to the markets in southern

Africa. For Gauteng to continue

to have a strong influence in the

region it requires more investment

in infrastructure for the future, from

both business and government (local

and national),” said Hoffmann.

According to him, Safmarine’s

focus is still to have representation

in the same locations from which its

customers operate, which makes its

Gauteng office particularly strategic

from a customer service and sales

perspective.

Lizanne Ferreira, who has been

with Safmarine for a number of

years, was recently appointed

as regional sales manager for

Gauteng. “It is important

to have sales people and

customer experience teams

to interact with the business

decision-makers in Gauteng

and find ways of growing

our businesses together,” said

Hoffmann.

He said Safmarine had launched

a major restructuring

process last year,

which it was still

implementing this

year. “We believe

that the key

differentiator in

the market is our

level of service

and the overall

experience

our customer

receives.

Getting better at what we do to

support and assist our customers

is the main reason we get up in the

morning,” said Hoffmann, adding

that the company continued to roll

out new systems and processes

to improve the

customer

experience.

Safmarine

will celebrate

70 years of

shipping

in Gauteng

next year.

INSERT & CAPTION

It is important to have

sales people and customer

experience teams to

interact with the business

decision-makers in

Gauteng.

– Dirk Hoffmann