South Africa’s transport industry generates 6.5% of the country’s GDP, yet 56% of logistics revenue goes toward operational expenses, highlighting the need for improved infrastructure and streamlined systems to drive down cost.
Speaking at the Transport Forum earlier today, Dr Joash Mageto of the University of Johannesburg (UJ) said it was imperative that all efforts possible be made to improve South Africa’s logistics network.
One of the reasons for cost escalation, he said, were challenges experienced at the country’s ports as well as inefficiencies and impediments experienced across the wider system of South Africa’s state-owned logistics company, Transnet.
Delays through the port and rail network affected the entire supply chain system, said Mageto.
Addressing a packed conference hall at Cedarwoods Hotel in Sandton, the senior lecturer at UJ’s Department of Transport and Supply Chain Management stressed that “we need to make sure that we run transport properly”.
As the country’s population increases, he said it would become even more important to see to it that mobility and supply chain efficiencies became properly integrated to ensure prosperity for South Africa’s population.
He said whether it was goods and serves, or access to basic daily needs, everything was reliant on the effective movement of people and freight.
As the country’s population expands, the demand for improved mobility and supply chain would increase, he stressed.
The necessity for the successful integration of mobility, supply chain and other elements of a rapidly expanding population was also emphasised by Jack van der Merwe, CEO of the Gauteng Transport Authority.
Without the wholesale improvement of all elements required to serve a growing population, South Africa would simply not be able to bring goods fast enough to fast-growing markets, said Van der Merwe.
According to Mageto, the benefit of investing in all aspects of the country’s logistics system is not simply in securing efficiencies for supply-chain service providers, but will manifest in much-needed socio-economic development.
“Transport has an important role to play in making an economic contribution to the country. In that sense, transport becomes an important link in the country’s development.”
