The integrity of South Africa’s participation in regional integration, particularly in light of developments around the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTFA), has been called into question following news that Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) and several private partners managed to ship bulk loads of citrus from Musina to the Port of Durban by rail recently. Cross-border logistics consultant and former CEO of the Maputo Corridor Logistics Initiative, Barbara Mommen, has for years advanced the cause of sending out bulk from South Africa, excluding heavy minerals, via the Port of Maputo. She said it made more sense to ship fruit out via Mozambique as the difference in distance between Letsitele and the ports of Durban and Maputo was striking – 977 vs 475 kilometres. The fact that TFR has been running reefer trains carrying bulk fruit from Tzaneen for some time, followed by an additional cold train from Musina, just shows that Transnet isn’t serious about regional integration, in Mommen’s view. “The opacity of the pricing structure with Transnet on the Maputo corridor means that South African ports will always be given better deals, even with reefer traffic. So the use of trains for reefers into Maputo is probably a non-starter in terms of competitiveness.” More importantly, with AfCTFA in mind, South Africa has “a moral obligation to provide economic opportunities, and if you’re forcing a supply chain to move through your port because you charge lower prices, even though the distance and delays are longer, then I think there are some questions to ask about your willingness to create economic growth across the region”. Mommen also believes the private sector is doing a disservice to supply chain efficiencies by taking longer routes, for whatever reason. “Service providers should, in my view, be under some obligation to create the shortest logistics route possible for cargo – and at this stage Durban is not the most efficient, either by rail or by road.” Add congestion at Durban into the mix, and it should be a no-brainer to send bulk fruit and other loads out via Maputo. That port, she said, had worked hard to improve efficiencies and it was time that it was taken seriously, especially now that AfCTFA was in its implementation phase. “Maputo harbour is back onto 20 to 25 moves per hour. They have invested in rubber tyre gantries, and their ability to service container traffic has improved dramatically. Yet after all these years we’re still fiddling with the idea that trading through another country is too difficult and should therefore not be our first choice.” However, Mitchell Brooke of the Citrus Growers’ Association (CGA) has since said that “a Letsitele line has opened up to Maputo and has been running for the last couple of weeks, serving MSC’s Africa service exporting fruit to the Middle East”. Mommen acknowledged CGA’s efforts in pushing for increased bulk freight via SADC ports, particularly Maputo, but said that South African freight through Mozambique would most likely always be smaller than volumes moved through ports like Durban. “It’s an age-old issue. We were never able to get real insight, commitment or proper discussion about it. It has always been quickly hushed up as client service provider discussion.” As always, she stressed that it was about political will, on both sides of the border. “South Africa needs to show that it’s serious about trade integration and Mozambique ought to put pressure on Transnet to take shares in its port because until that happens, Maputo will always be seen as competition.” • FTW will endeavour to get feedback from TFR on this issue as a follow-up story is planned for next week’s edition.
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Mozambique ought to put pressure on Transnet to take shares in the Port of Maputo. “ – Barbara Mommen
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