January 2023 | BUSINESS FLEET AFRICA
WWW.BUSINESSFLEETAFRICA.CO.ZA
Editor
Reuben van Niekerk
reubenvn@vodamail.co.za
082 837 8801
Editor-at-large
Suzanne Walker
suzanne.walker3@gmail.com
083 3789 664
Contributors
Roger Houghton
houghtonr@mwebbiz.co.za
082 371 9097
Publisher
Jacques Wilken
jwilken@mweb.co.za
083 299 7312
Road Impression Editor
Charl Wilken
cwwilken@mweb.co.za
083 297 1837
Advertising and Marketing
Charlene Kruger
charlene@businessfleetafrica.co.za
076 807 4613
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accuracy of information supplied,
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Work smartly in 2023
Another year is upon us and while the chaos created by the global pandemic seems
to mostly be a thing of the past there are numerous new challenges that make doing
businesses in South Africa tricky. A common thread in this month’s edition of Business
Fleet Africa, is that business will have to work smarter and carefully control all the
resources that contribute to their business model in order to have any chance of
survival in this challenging market.
This will include carefully considering long term agreements and in many cases
opting for agreements that give you more flexibility as your business needs ebb and
flow. The right partnerships are also critical and what business owners are looking
for in partnerships is also very different to what was considered vital a few years ago.
Factors such as ESG and corporate responsibility are becoming more important as
people now investigate the entire supply chain of a business, from source to the way
the final product is packaged and delivered so that they know exactly who they are
doing business with. How all the players in the value chain conduct their affairs will be
considered before entering into any partnerships. Being associated with the wrong
crowd is seen as a big no, no these days.
Road deaths still too high
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula announced that during the festive period from
1 December 2022 to 11 January 2023, 1451 people died on South African roads. The
Minister noted that this is a 14% reduction in the number of fatalities compared to the
same period in 2021/2022.
While an improvement is certainly welcomed, losing 1451 lives in five weeks is still
completely unacceptable and drastic measures need to be taken to curb the culture
where such a number is celebrated.
Our new columnist Ashref Ismail offers several suggestions a few pages on but
there certainly must be a greater emphasis around the education regarding road
safety. Government also needs to come to the party and sign in to law the proposal
for periodic testing of older vehicles, which has been lying in wait for many years now.
Reducing the number of unroadworthy vehicles on our roads will go a long way in
reducing accidents.
We would like to hear from you
Business Fleet Africa continues to strive to offer our readers a unique combination
of content from all the segments of the world of working wheels and the associated
industries. As such we always welcome suggestions regarding what you would like to
read about, what you would like to see more of and maybe even what you would like
to see less of.
Reuben van Niekerk
Editor
Editorial
eDIToRIal
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