JOHANNESBURG - An outline on how general freight corridors will be fixed should be top of the priority list for President Cyril Ramaphosa when he delivers the State of the Nation Address on Thursday.
Transport economist Jan Havenga says while significant strides have been made in the port terminals and bulk export lines, questions remain around general freight lines.
“Especially the Natal and the Cape corridors. We’re not a 100 percent sure yet how that’s going to be fixed, and it’s very important,” said Havenga.
He said the process of setting up a regulator to address these problems should also be finalised.
“The minister started the process of setting up a regulator, which is important. She has also announced 10 train operating companies that have been allowed access to our routes. These are all promises that have been kept. In general, the money is being spent where it is supposed to be spent.”
On the ports side, Havenga said there were already measurable gains and faster shipment turnaround times.
“We sometimes have issues, and that causes problem,s but in general, the port turnaround times and crane handling is better. Things are improving.”
Havenga said the rail side has also seen improvement on the bulk export lines.
“It’s clear, it’s visible, it’s measurable. We are just not seeing an improvement yet in general freight. More work needs to be done to get us over the line.”
He said more investment was needed for the freight corridors.