‘Slim pickings for hauliers on DRC route’

The Democratic Republic of the
Congo is not for sissies. Ask
anyone who has operated in the
country and they will tell you this is
a business environment unlike any
other.
Ask them for advice on working in
the DRC and they will be quick to tell
you to rather sell up.
Like trucker Andre van Huysteen,
who owns Vanito Trading, a trucking
company in Boksburg, who has been
working in the country for several
years.
“The DRC? Run a mile! Sell your
trucks! I kid you not. Sell them,”
he laughs. The DRC offers various
challenges to transporters be it dealing
with non-existent roads to everchanging
tariffs and taxes.
The first rule when working in
the DRC, says Van Huysteen, is to
always expect the unexpected. “Every
province, every area functions on
its own rules and regulations and
therefore you never really know what
to expect. The bureaucracy plays a
major role and you can have your
trucks impounded for weeks at a
time.”
He says getting a handle on exactly
what fees are charged when and where
is probably the biggest challenge at
any time.
“In the Katanga region they charge
taxes in no particular way, with the
figures arbitrarily chosen by the
official of the day. These are factors
you have to consider and you need
to empower your driver to deal with
what he will face up there.”
That could even include paying a
bribe. “One of my drivers was once
in a situation where he had paid so
many ‘fines’ he had no money left, so
the officers took his food as payment
leaving him in a strange country with
no money and no food.”
Van Huysteen says many South
African truckers believe they can
make a profit running a crossborder
operation into countries like
the DRC, but if one weighs up the
facts (including money spent on
paying thought-up taxes), unless it
is a volume-ased business, it is not
profitable at present.
“Rates are very low. A round trip to
the Congo takes at least a month and
that is without any problems being
experienced.”
Delays at border posts are a very
real occurrence, often lengthening the
trip. A slew of costs at border posts
and along the route must be taken into
account as well.
“It really all comes down to
flexibility,” says Van Huysteen. “If
you are not flexible there is no way
you will survive.”