Gauteng’s road network is under pressure and in desperate need of relief.Not only is congestion reaching unprecedented levels, but the reliance on road freight to transport goods to and from coastal ports is driving up the cost of logistics.It is a matter of serious concern, says Professor Rose Luke from the University of Johannesburg’s department of transport and supply chain management. “Road-based infrastructure development has not happened as was expected, while there has also been a general deterioration of the infrastructure. At the same time, Gauteng is growing and doing so exponentially. If one considers the level of population growth, an increase in vehicles on the roads can be expected due to the lack of a public transport network – and on top of that, the demand for supplies and goods will increase. There are only so many trucks the system can handle, and the reality is that the roads have stayed the same.”Luke told Freight News that there was no way the province could keep on trucking freight into its constrained system. “It is not just freight that has to be addressed, but rather the transport system as a whole. The province will have to look at the big picture to ensure efficiency without escalated costs.”According to Luke, with the bulk of imports coming from the Port of Durban via road, inventories in the province are at risk, with every hiccup at the port making an impact. “This does not only apply to our imports, but also exports. Even a delay of a few hours has significant consequences as all the systems are interconnected, and it can take days to get back into the system.”With vessels bypassing the country due to the challenges faced by the sea freight sector around the world, this means that the system is vulnerable. “An exporter who misses his slot might have to wait weeks before he is back on track again. The same goes for cargo coming in.”Luke said many shippers were moving towards more reliable modes of transport such as airfreight, but this drove up costs, making it an expensive solution.“The province is extremely reliant on the Johannesburg-Durban road corridor, which is, in fact, also the arterial into southern Africa. We need to think about improving the efficiency on this corridor, including bringing the cost of logistics down.”Asked about a solution, she said multiple aspects needed to be considered to solve the growing crisis, but one of the most important was delivering a well-functioning rail corridor linking Gauteng to the Port of Durban. “It is simply just not feasible to expand or extend the road network any further. It will just result in the same problem we have at present. It is, however, not just the rail corridor to Durban that must be improved and strengthened, but also the corridor between Gauteng and the Port of Ngqura. The Durban port is already constrained and the reliance on one corridor makes Gauteng extremely vulnerable.”
