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There was more than a touch of irony in ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbabula’s blustering at the Women’s League Elective Conference this past weekend, that Pravin Gordhan must sort out Transnet quickly, or risk being moved out of cabinet.
The context for his bluster was that the number of heavy trucks on our roads had to be reduced by transferring more freight onto rail transport, which would lead to a reduction in accidents involving trucks.
As the most recent Minister of Transport, he conveniently overlooks his role in not reining in and policing the rampant growth in the heavy freight industry through strategic enforcement of existing regulations
But let’s pause for a moment and examine why this rampant and exponential growth in the trucking industry has occurred.
The freight rail division of Transnet has, to a large extent, imploded – a state of affairs presided over by a succession of ruling party ministers, the current ruling party Secretary General being the most recent.
From this lofty perch, he derives the confidence to pronounce on the state of his erstwhile ministry.
It must also be acknowledged that moving Transnet from the Transport Ministry to that of Public Enterprises under Gordhan is more than a tacit concession that the Department Transport (DOT) does not have the capacity or willingness from the Minister down to fix it.
It was not surprising then, that as rail users suffered from this implosion of Transnet and battled to get goods to market (both domestic and overseas), and given that the rail system was entirely in State hands, they would be forced to move to road transport.
Freight transported on SA railways has decreased from 219m tons to 179m tons between 2017 and 2022, Sean Jacobs reports, writing in the Daily Investor in July 2023.
The private sector’s ability to move much quicker than the public sector has meant that, for example exporters wanting to take advantage of rocketing coal prices have moved to road transport to get their product to ports.
With most commodity prices at record highs, economists estimate that our economy has forsaken over R150b in export revenue.
More concerning, the impact of Transnet’s decline is feeding through directly into job losses on mines, as mines restructure to align operations with reduced operating volumes.
The fact that the government has effectively sat on its hands for the last 10 years or more, as the deteriorating situation at Transnet has increasingly impacted directly on the economy and jobs is just astonishing.
In the meantime, I will follow with interest how the SG (and former Transport minister) will force trucking companies off the roads, and businesses onto Transnet Freight rail.
Vijay Naidoo is the CEO of the Port Shepstone Business Forum. He writes in his personal capacity. The views expressed are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication.
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