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Free State Business 2017 edition

  • Text
  • Infrastructure
  • Development
  • Province
  • Investment
  • Business
  • Network
  • Bloemfontein
  • Municipality
  • Manufacturing
  • Economic
  • Province
  • Provincial
  • African
  • Opportunities
  • Mangaung
  • Industrial
Free State Business 2017 is the seventh edition of this highly successful publication that has since its launch in 2008 established itself as the premier business and investment guide to Free State Province. Supported and utilised by the Free State Development Corporation (FDC), Free State Business is unique as a business journal that focuses exclusively on the Free State.

OVERVIEW Transport and

OVERVIEW Transport and logistics The Free State is a logistics hub. SECTOR INSIGHT • Independent truck owners in Bloemfontein have been given new opportunities. • A reopened branch rail line is providing new connections. Chemicals, maize and gold are three of the most important commodities that rail and road logistics companies have to transport out of South Africa’s most central province. Expansion on the part of Omnia (the chemicals, explosives and fertiliser company based in Sasolburg), led to an entirely new set of rail wagons being designed and built by Transnet Engineering (TE). Omnia took delivery of 145 new wagons to take ammonia away from their new plants in Sasolburg. The specialist wagons were designed to deal with pressure up to 1930kPa and were made of high-grade steel. To give an idea of the scale of the logistics in the national gas industry, the Afrox fleet alone covers about 24-million kilometres every year. Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) delivers chemicals from Sasolburg to Durban and Richards Bay Gold miners in the Free State have contracts with independent rail contractors, such as Sheltam and Rail Road Logistics Grindrod (RRL Grindrod), for the movement and delivery of their ore from mines to plants. Sheltam operates out of Virginia. When it comes to maize, what used to be the preserve of the national rail carrier (up to 80% of the crop used to be transported by rail) is now a very competitive environment with road freight operators as strong competitors. But Transnet Freight Rail has plans to regain market share. The main grain lines that TFR operates through the Free State are Kroonstad to Durban and Klerksdorp to Polokwane. The reopening of the Orkney- Vierfontein branch line is an example of how TFR plans to go about increasing its market share. The 15km offers farmers in the North West province improved connections to the rest of the rail network. Grain transport is not the only reason for revitalising the line, work on which was mostly done by Transnet teams working out of Bloemfontein, but it could also carry bulk liquids and passenger trains if there was demand. For the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, the main train flows are from Rosslyn (Pretoria) to Bloemfontein. Kroonstad is one of the country’s most important junctions, straddling as it does the main line between Cape Town and Johannesburg. It is also a major marshalling yard. Transnet’s manganese packaging facility in Bloemfontein has recently expanded the scope of FREE STATE BUSINESS 2017 52

OVERVIEW its operation, which has led to the creation of more opportunities for SMME truck owners. The provincial government’s Women in Transport and Logistics project has given opportunities for work to many operators. Several national roads pass through the province: the extremely busy N3 to the ports of Durban and Richards Bay, the N1 and N5 highways leading to the industrial development zones at Port Elizabeth (Coega) and East London, with the N1 ending at the port city of Cape Town. A plan to boost “corridor development” along the N8 is also in place. The N8 connects the provincial capital with Lesotho’s capital, Maseru, and the Northern Cape city of Kimberley. Harrismith is also centrally located: 300km from Johannesburg, 350km from Bloemfontein and 300km from Durban. This has made it the ideal location for a logistics hub and dry port, and the volume of cargo passing through Harrismith has been increasing steadily for several years. The Durban-Free State- Gauteng logistics and industrial corridor is not only intended to promote better transport of goods between the end points, but also to boost economic development in towns and rural areas along the way. The Maluti- A-Phofung SEZ (Special Economic Zone) will contribute to this. The Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality has a five-year Integrated Development Plan in place, and transport is a key component. The N8 is a central part of the plan, providing, as it does, the main link on the east-west axis. The great advantage of being centrally located also brings with it the challenge of maintaining roads that are heavily used. National roads are maintained by the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral), but there are many roads that the provincial government must keep in good condition. The preservation of the network includes ensuring that communities are not isolated, that township roads are improved and bridges maintained. Various banks of data also have to be maintained to assist in management, for example, traffic counting, accident data and overloading control. Bloemfontein’s Bram Fischer International Airport is the province’s major airport and is managed by Airports Company South Africa (ACSA). A project covering 2 000ha and expected to cost in the region of R100-billion over several phases has been initiated at the airport. Ultimately, the area will have industrial land, mixed housing, a regional mall and be served by public transport. New Tempe Airport, 15km north of the city, is privately owned and is used for charter flights, recreational flying and the Bloemfontein Air Show. Airports are also located at Bethlehem and Welkom, and there are a number of airstrips on farms and game reserves. CONTACT INFO Dept of Police, Roads and Transport Physical address: 45 Charlotte Maxeke Street, Perm Building, Bloemfontein 9301 Tel: +27 51 409 8849 | Fax: +27 51 409 8864 Website: www.policeroadstransport.fs.gov.za Railroad Association of South Africa: www.rra.co.za Roadfreight Association of South Africa: www.rfa.co.za South African National Roads Agency Limited: www.nra.co.za 53 FREE STATE BUSINESS 2017

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