Cape Town – President Cyril Ramaphosa has proposed the establishment of a national logistics crisis committee to urgently address the ailing performance of South Africa’s ports and rail.
“We need to take urgent measures to resolve the logistics backlog that continues to undermine economic growth.
“I deeply appreciate the constructive manner in which all the impacted sectors have approached the resolution of this crisis. Government will consider some of the proposals presented and act on them quickly in order to unlock much-needed investments into the economy,” Ramaphosa said on Wednesday while hosting a virtual meeting with executives from key exporting economic sectors such as mining and minerals, the agricultural and forestry sectors and as well as the automotive and freight forwarding industry.
The sectors represent South Africa’s largest exporters who are reliant on the country’s road, rail and port infrastructure.
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The virtual meeting came following a meeting that the president held with members of the Transnet board and executive management in March, which discussed challenges facing the country’s logistics system, including the declining performance of the freight rail network.
Ramaphosa directed Transnet to implement reforms wholly and swiftly to reverse the crisis in South Africa’s logistics system.
Over the coming weeks, government said it will consider and announce a set of measures that will add impetus to the work that is currently under way to improve rail and port efficiencies.
According to the President’s Office, this will be in line with the government policy direction for the freight transport sector in the White Paper on National Rail Policy and in legislation such as the National Ports Act and the Economic Regulation of Transport Bill that is currently before Parliament.
The President will soon meet with organised labour representatives to concretise a collaborative effort that will be co-ordinated by the Presidency.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
