The trucking industry is responsible for transporting around 80% of South Africa’s goods from the main ports of entry to their end destinations in storefronts and on shelves around the country.
Around 7,000 deliveries are made with trucks every day – 4,000 of these going through the N3 corridor between Johannesburg and Durban – and each one costs its owner between R5,000 and R7,500 a day in operational costs.
Therefore, depending on the type of vehicle, one day of delays in the trucking sector costs the local economy a minimum of R35 million, according to Gavin Kelly, CEO of the Road Freight Association (RFA).
Kelly highlighted this important statistic after six large trucks were stopped by armed assailants and set alight on the Van Reenen’s Pass on the N3 this past weekend. The attack is believed to have been highly coordinated and the location chosen to cause as much havoc as possible.
The combined value of the damaged vehicles and cargo stretches anywhere from R18 million to R60 million, while the loss of income and other collateral damages are expected to eclipse this value.
Small businesses that could have lost their only truck/s may now have to close up shop, and others could have come to the conclusion that the industry is just too dangerous to continue operating, resulting in loss of revenue to the economy and even more unemployment in a country that already has the highest ratio of unemployed citizens in the world.
Additionally, sustained attacks on freight traveling through South Africa may cause cargo owners/customers to send their shipments through the ports of neighbouring nations in an effort to avoid these costly incidents.
“This has already been happening as South African ports become inefficient and the surrounding ports develop, improve, and drive efficiencies up,” said Kelly.
“South Africa’s ‘Gateway to Africa’ status has been lost and these attacks will further cement the move of transit freight from South Africa to neighbouring countries. Port revenues will drop, as will income through all support and related freight logistics users.”
One day of dysfunction at any of the country’s ports also results in backlogs in processing shipments and delays in deliveries that damage the domestic fiscus further.
The RFA, therefore, believes this most recent incident was a ruthless attack targeted squarely at hamstringing the local road freight supply chain.
“Whilst the immediate short-term losses will run into millions of Rands (including cost of vehicles, cargo, personal effects, road damage, EMS response, delays in movement, and shipping penalties), the long-term impact will be felt in terms of increased security costs into the cost of logistics, higher insurance premiums, higher SARIA cover premiums, higher toll fees, less freight movement through South Africa, closure of freight companies, loss of jobs: the list continues,” said Kelly.
Road closure after arsonists destroy 6 trucks at Van Reenen’s https://t.co/hwR3M0F6Fu #ArriveAlive #Crime @N3Route pic.twitter.com/X9aIy9fhpo
— Arrive Alive (@_ArriveAlive) July 9, 2023
Who was behind this?
Apart from the damages to the economy, other worrying questions include who was behind the attack, and why, as there was no looting of cargo and no drivers or staff were injured or killed, said the RFA.
“The targeted precision of the attack is worrying. This was well planned and efficiently implemented,” said Kelly.
“At this point, no group has acknowledged that they are responsible.”
Kelly notes that there have been similar attacks across the country for the past six years, which were believed to be the deeds of one group and its allies, but that no action has been taken against these individuals as yet despite the Minister of Police labeling these incidents as “economic sabotage.”
“If this is, indeed, the work of the All Truck Drivers Foundation and its counterparts relating to the employment of illegal foreigners in the road freight (or any other) sector, then the responsible Department of Employment and Labour, and its inspection structures, must ensure that their responsibility to protect employees and employers from non-compliant labour practices is strictly and swiftly applied,” said Kelly.
“Whilst the RFA is currently unaware of which companies were targeted and attacked (and whether this was a random choice of trucks or an actual specific set of transporters), it is always those who are compliant and innocent of the complaints or issues raised by others, that get caught up in these activities, and ultimately pay the price of closed businesses and severe cost increases to operations.”
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