Self-regulation pilot scheme set for launch

Corruption remains the biggest stumbling block to the success of a self-regulation pilot scheme (RTMS) along the North-South Corridor. This was one of the conclusions reached at the kick-off meeting for such a pilot programme held in Harare late last year. According to Barney Curtis, executive director of the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta) who attended the meeting, it was agreed that the starting point would be transparency and communication of the requirements of the various agencies at border posts and roadblocks. “In order to make the proposed pilot more manageable it has been limited to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia. The pilot will take the form of the RTMS that is in place in South Africa but it will be rolled out across the other two countries as well,” he said. “The pilot will also be restricted to freight transport as the existing RTMS does not have experience with passenger transport and including that in the pilot would just add complexities that would ultimately overburden it.” Curtis said following the meeting, SADC had called on the three countries in which the scheme is to be piloted to submit information on what their individual requirements would be from transporters at borders, weighbridges and road blocks. In the meantime efforts are under way to identify six to ten transporters to take part in the pilot that is set to kick off later this year. In South Africa the RTMS is running well in the forestry and sugar industries with progress being made towards its effective introduction in the coal industry, said Curtis.