'Positive signs of return to heady days ...'

Well here we are in 2011
and from all accounts
the freight industry has
experienced a relatively
quiet start to the New Year.
Possibly the economy is
still in the doldrums, or
maybe it is a traditionally
slow period, but either
way, most colleagues
agree that trade in
January was particularly
underwhelming.
Nevertheless, all signs
are positive for the gradual
return to the heady trading
days of 2008 before anyone
had thought about it, let
alone uttered the dreaded
‘R’ word. Of course, there
is the small matter of
political turmoil in Egypt
and the uncertainty of other
unforeseen global events,
but disasters aside, all
seems to be going well in
our corner of the universe.
The year started with a
bang for the team at Saaff,
who are proud of the part
they played in persuading
the National Port Regulator
to deny the proposed
price hikes by Transnet
National Ports Authority.
Dave Watts prepared a
cogent and well argued
submission which made
strong recommendations
including the suggestion
that the Regulator reject the
proposed tariff increase and
instruct the Port Authority
to review its proposal
and submit one which
recognises the needs of the
South African economy
and trade facilitation. The
outcome was a reduction in
the increase from 11.9% to
4.49%.
Forwarding excellence
Dates have been set
for the 2011 Saaff Congress
which is scheduled to
take place on June 8-9 at
Emperor’s Palace. The
proposed theme for this
year is “Global Intelligence
– Local Relevance –
Forwarding Excellence.”
Do I see an oxymoron in
there somewhere?
Counterfeit seizure
A disturbing report out
of Durban indicates that
the Port Security Services
recently seized large
volumes of counterfeit
goods, but suffered the tragic
loss of the Warrant Officer
leading the investigating
teams. He appears to have
been murdered and a
customs officer shot and
wounded in a seemingly
related incident. Apparently
police have made arrests,
but are still searching for the
kingpin involved.
Consumer Protection Act
Remember that the
Consumer Protection Act
comes into force on 31st
March. This Act has farreaching
consequences and
impacts on clearing and
forwarding agents trading
with companies whose asset
value and turnover are below
R3 million and therefore fall
within the ambit of the Act.
Saaff has selected another
aspirant to represent the
country for the Fiata Young
Freight Forwarder of the year
competition. Michael de Witt
of Schenker is the successful
candidate for 2011.
We wish Michael every
success in the international
assessments. After
producing three successive
finalists, maybe this time
we can bring home the
silverware.
Old Japanese saying -
‘Vision without action is a
dream. Action without vision
is a nightmare.’