“Problems are always there, but if there were no problems I would be out of business!” says the ebullient owner of Speedy Overborder, Willie Stuart. It is busy season at the Matsapha Industrial Estate, as the year-end manufacturing cycle switches to high gear. The escalation of work underscores the need for a larger location, and the company’s current rented facilities in the older portion of Swaziland’s manufacturing hub will soon make way for a company-owned office/warehouse complex in a developing section of the industrial park. Company trucks move in and out like clockwork, but a larger parking apron would be welcome for the current fleet of four 40-tonne Super Links, two eight-tonners, two five-tonners, four 1 ½ tonners and ten onetonne delivery vehicles. This year has seen considerable business moving spare parts. “Because Swaziland is a small market, the companies don’t keep large inventories of items in stock. We specialise in moving spare parts from Johannesburg. We keep our Johannesburg office until late, so a spare part that arrives by midnight can be in Swaziland the next morning,” Stuart said. “Our overnight service from Jo’burg to Gaborone is doing well, and other routes are being explored. Customer service now includes an internet option. “Customers enter their waybill number on the web site, and they get a reply that tells them where their shipment is. ‘It’s 100 km from the airport,’ for instance. It’s a popular service,” said Stuart.
