South African Business 2021

OVERVIEW Transport and

OVERVIEW Transport and logistics Decongestion of ports is a priority. SECTOR INSIGHT Airlink has signed partnerships with two world-leaders. Credit: South African Heavy Haul Association Getting freight through South Africa’s ports in a more efficient manner has become an urgent priority. A Port of Durban Decongestion Task Team includes a broad range of private and public sector organisations involved in the port. Through nine targeted workstreams the team is tackling the root causes of Bayhead congestion and is working on improving coordination, planning, operations and cargo flows. A mandatory automated truck booking system has been introduced at Durban Container Terminal Pier 1 and Pier 2, while the Grindrod, FPT and Bulk Terminal depots have also piloted their own booking systems. Although Transnet Port Terminals and Transnet Freight Rail are vital to the smooth running of the loading systems, private operators of storage facilities and trucking companies also need to synchronise their operations. In Cape Town, efforts to work on decongestion include the City of Cape Town, the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the provincial government. The 2020 Technical Conference of the South African Heavy Haul Association tackled the issue of bringing smart technology to the railway system under the theme, “Smart, Resilient Railway Operations & Infrastructure”. Smart systems can self-monitor and self-diagnose railway conditions and then predict failures or problems before they occur. One of the biggest problems facing the South African rail system is cable theft, which leads to frequent delays along the network. Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) has had a new CEO since April 2020. Siza Mzimela, with a background in airlines and logistics, wants to divert road freight to rail, which currently attracts just 20% of South Africa’s general freight. One of her goals is to find a South African manufacturer who can produce railway lines. Transnet Freight Rail’s operations represent about 80% of Africa’s rail infrastructure. With 25 000 employees TFR has specialist divisions for hauling coal and iron ore together with a general freight division which transports everything from grain to chemicals. It is on these specialised lines that TFR excels. A new record was set in 2019 when 375 wagons were hitched to the Sishen-Saldanha train that hauls iron ore from the Northern Cape to a dedicated terminal at Saldanha in the Western Cape. The total volume transported in 2019 amounted to 58.4-million tons. SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2021 80

OVERVIEW Coal tonnage reached 72mt in the same year and general freight accounted for a further 85mt. Increasing the amount of general freight transported by rail would not only bring down costs but it would also take the burden of thousands of heavy trucks off South Africa’s roads. South Africa has 22 000km of railway lines and 747 000km of roads, 325 019 heavy-load vehicles and the road freight industry employs 65 000 drivers. The logistics and courier market is worth R10-billion. There are 135 licensed airports in the country, 10 of which have international status. Air Four airlines were still flying after the Covid-19 lockdown: Airlink, Mango, Cemair and FlySafair. The business rescue process was applied to SAA, SA Express and Comair. A R1.5-billion business rescue offer was made to Comair that would enable it to restart in time for Christmas 2020. The offer entails delisting from the JSE. Comair operates as a British Airways franchisee on domestic routes and launched its own low-cost airline, kulula. com, in 2001. In October 2020, Airlink signed two deals in quick succession with Qatar Airways and Emirates, giving customers single-ticket travel and one-stop baggage check-in. Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) owns and operates the country’s 10 biggest airports. The company also manages airports in India and Brazil. Ekurhuleni wants to leverage the location of South Africa’s biggest airport, OR Tambo International, into a major economic asset. OR Tambo International in Johannesburg caters for more than 21-million passengers annually. Cape Town International Airport recorded 10-million passengers in 2016, a figure that rose in 2019 to a shade under 11-million. King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) is north of Durban. The South African Ministry of Transport has several agencies and businesses reporting to it: Air Traffic and Navigation Services Company, ACSA, National Transport Information System, Road Accident Fund, South African Civil Aviation Authority, South ONLINE RESOURCES Airlines Association of Southern Africa: www.aasa.za.net Airports Company South Africa: www.acsa.co.za Road Freight Association of South Africa: www.rfa.co.za South African Association of Freight Forwarders: www.saaff.org.za South African Heavy Haul Association: www.saheavyhaul.co.za African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA), the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) and the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (PRASA). Logistics South Africa’s largest agricultural company has signed an agreement with Transnet to partner in upgrading grain facilities at two ports. East London and Durban will receive R100-million revamps as part of a 15-year tender won by Afgri. Transnet is hoping that the partnership will help it towards reaching its goals in its road-torail strategy. The building of the Musina- Makhado Special Economic Zone (SEZ) will boost Limpopo’s role as a transport and logistics hub. The Musina Intermodal Terminal is 15km from the busy Beit Bridge border crossing. It will boost efforts to move cargo from road to rail. The Maputo Development Corridor is Africa’s most advanced spatial development initiative. Run by the Maputo Development Corridor Logistics Initiative (MCLI), the corridor runs from near Pretoria in Gauteng, to Maputo in Mozambique. The Harrismith Logistics Hub at the Maluti-A-Phofung SEZ on the N3 is an inland port that can handle cargo containers and shift cargo from road to rail, reducing congestion and costs. ■ 81 SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2021