The South African government has committed to finalise the Freight Logistics Roadmap, which will outline a sequenced set of actions to fundamentally reform the logistics system, by the end of October.
In a joint update released yesterday by the government and business, the government said the roadmap would be completed next month. President Cyril Ramaphosa held a meeting with members of the Cabinet and senior business leaders on Tuesday to receive an update on progress made in the collaboration between government and business.
The entities formed a collaboration in June aiming to significantly grow South Africa’s economy, and restore public and investor confidence through critical interventions to address the key challenges of energy, logistics, crime and corruption.
Among other targets areas, in the logistical focal area, government and business said the collaboration is centred on ensuring the implementation of immediate operational interventions, alongside the development of the Freight Logistics Roadmap.
Business emphasised the urgency of this roadmap in the context of the ongoing challenges in the logistics system.
Transnet Freight Rail has been experiencing operational and financial woes to the detriment of the economy of the country.
According to the entities, six of the eight work streams of the National Logistics Crisis Committee (NLCC) are now fully operational, while the remaining two will transition from Operation Vulindlela.
“Interventions to improve the operational performance of the multimodal bulk freight rail network and port system are well underway through the NLCC.
“Corridor Recovery Teams have been established for five strategic corridors, comprising Transnet managing executives, industry representatives, and independent experts, and a delivery plan has been developed with specific actions and time-frames to achieve the targeted increase in freight volumes,” it said.
Business and government further emphasised the need to support the board of Transnet in its turnaround plan to drive operational improvement and sustainability.
The board was instructed by the Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan to look at methods to turn around the entity's woes, as the parastatal reported a R5.7 billion loss for its 2023 year. The board is set to present its turnaround strategy in October.
According to the statement, a multi-disciplinary team had been formed to address congestion challenges at the Lebombo border crossing, resulting in a reduction in the border processing time, while a dedicated workstream had been established to expedite the restoration of passenger rail services.
“Law enforcement agencies are working to protect rail infrastructure through a range of interventions, including aerial surveillance on the North and Central Corridors as well as the Majuba rail line,” it said.
The update said good traction had also been achieved within the energy focal area through the National Energy Crisis Committee (Necom) which has been established to ensure the delivery of the Energy Action Plan (EAP).
South Africa has been struggling with an energy crisis as the power utility Eskom has not been able to handle the electricity demand, which has led it to institute load shedding.
Business and government reaffirmed the importance of the EAP as the country’s blueprint for reducing the severity and frequency of load shedding in the short term, and ending it altogether in the long term.
“Full implementation of the plan across three core priorities – improving the performance of Eskom’s existing power stations; adding new generation capacity, and reforming the energy sector – will result in over 12 GW of generation capacity being recovered or added to the system from Eskom and the private sector by the end of 2024,” it said.
BUSINESS REPORT