What is required for a multimodal transport system to become a reality?

Creating or establishing the ideal model for a multimodal transport system in South Africa would require two major components for this to happen:

one is an established and efficient logistics/transport/infrastructure network; and the other is defined transport corridors with management structures in place.

The first requirement I believe South Africa at large is capable of delivering, with some improvements and upgrading still to be done in certain areas to reach utopia; but the second is virtually nonexistent (with the exception of the Maputo Corridor Logistics Initiative – MCLI) and it is preventing South Africa from achieving this ideal.

Road network

Essentially, South Africa has a good, well-maintained road network consisting of about 754 000 kilometres, with 9 600km of national roads. The South African road network is undoubtedly the best in Africa, but it comes at a price; and in many cases, as with the establishment of the Toll Road Concessionaires under the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral), that price is for the user.

Sanral is an independent, statutory company registered in terms of the Companies Act. The South African government, represented by the minister of Transport, is the sole shareholder and owner of Sanral. It has a distinct mandate: to finance, improve,

manage and maintain the national road network (the “economic arteries” of South Africa). Sanral introduced and consolidated the concept of public-private partnerships (PPPs), which culminated in the internationally acclaimed Maputo Development Corridor.

Sanral has two primary sources of income: Non-toll roads are funded from allocations made by the National Treasury; toll roads are funded from borrowings on the capital and money markets – bonds issued on the Bond Exchange of SA in the name of Sanral, or through the concessioning of roads to private sector consortia.

Rail network

South Africa has the largest rail network in Africa, which makes up about 80% of Africa rail infrastructure and covers 22 000km of rail network and about 1 500km of heavy haul lines, but has many problems which has resulted in a lack of efficiency and poor service delivery. Hence road transport dominates the freight haulage market in South Africa, with a market share of around 80% of the total freight delivered to industry.

The rail network in South Africa is run by Transnet, which is fully owned by the South African government, but operates as a corporate entity aimed at both supporting and contributing to the country’s freight logistics network. Transnet Freight Rail’s core business lies in freight logistics solutions designed for customers in industry-based business segments, mining, heavy and light manufacturing.

Ports

South Africa has many well-equipped, modern ports: 10 in total covering its entire geographical coastline, which are essentially capable of handling huge volumes of cargo in comparison to their African counterparts, but are disproportionately utilised – with Durban receiving the bulk of the cargo due to its proximity to the hinterland, and Cape Town being the second busiest.

These ports are strategically positioned to support both the road and rail network of South Africa and, if managed and marketed correctly, could ease the congestion that has currently built up in the Port of Durban.

The Port of Ngqura outside Port Elizabeth, with its newly developed Industrial Development Zone, offers one of the best potentials to ease the burden of Durban and possibly even Cape Town, which is fast competing with Durban.

Transnet Port Terminals was established in 2000, when Transnet’s then single port division, Portnet, was divided into operations and landlord businesses, namely SAPO (Transnet Port Terminals) and the National Port Authority.

Since its inception, Transnet Port Terminals has played a key role in supporting the South African government’s export-led growth strategy.

Air transport

More than 50 airlines, making around 230 000 aircraft landings and carrying about 33 million passengers a year, move through South Africa’s 10 principal airports.

These include three major international airports in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, as well as airports in Port Elizabeth, East London, George, Kimberley, Upington, Bloemfontein and the Pilanesberg.

Twenty-one air traffic control centres support operations that cover 145 licensed airports with paved runways and more than 580 aerodromes with unpaved runways.

The semi-privatised Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) is responsible for overseeing infrastructure expansion at the country’s airports.

In 2007, Acsa proposed a five-year capital expenditure programme of just under R20 billion, both to accommodate new-generation aircraft and to handle growing passenger numbers.

Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport is Africa’s busiest, with about 8.9 million departing passengers a year.

Cape Town International, which has 3.8 million passengers departing a year, has been voted Africa’s leading airport at the World Travel Awards for seven consecutive years.

South African Airways, the country’s national carrier, serves more than 700 cities, including 20 destinations in Africa, and provides maintenance for many of the world’s airlines.

Based on this, South Africa should have the perfect multimodal system that could be an example to the rest of the world and Africa, but it is far from that – why?

There is a tendency to over-capitalise and compete provincially with one another rather than to pool resources and work together as a team, with the bigger picture in mind, which is a fully integrated multimodal transport system with established interregional trade links.

How do we get there?

Etablish clearly defined trade corridors with management structures and originating from ports, and either interlink with one another internally and/or crossing borders into neighbouring countries, establishing and developing inter-regional trade.

Currently in South Africa, we only have one such entity – the MCLI, managed by Brenda Horne-Ferreira, supported by a PPP and funded by means of industry support and corridor membership fees.

The North South Corridor, which runs from the Port of Durban to the Democratic Republic of Congo through Zimbabwe/Zambia, and with an alternative route through Botswana/Zambia via the Kazungula Ferry crossing, it links up with the Dar es Salaam Transport Corridor at Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia. It is defined and classified as a trade route, but has no corridor management structure.

These corridors are well supported by road, rail, sea and air networks; we simply need to define, name and manage them.

Mike Fitzmaurice