November 2022 | BUSINESS FLEET AFRICA
WWW.BUSINESSFLEETAFRICA.CO.ZA
Editor
Reuben van Niekerk
reubenvn@vodamail.co.za
082 837 8801
Editor-at-large
Suzanne Walker
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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
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Getting rail back up and running
By all accounts the South African road transport sector contin-
ues to grow at a tremendous rate, due to a variety of factors, but
most notably thanks to the continued decline of the rail sector.
The increased load on the country’s road network especially on major routes is not
sustainable and is already resulting in higher accident rates and longer journey times.
These factors then only get worse when disruptions like strikes or port closures occur,
with transport operators seemingly always playing catch up.
During the recent medium term budget speech Finance Minister Enoch
Godongwana committed to passing the Economic Regulation of Transport Bill
while requests for proposals have been issued for third-party access to the freight
rail network.
While slowing down the decay of our railway system is certainly necessary, it will
be interesting to see if any private companies come forward and take government up
on this offer. The countries rail system is in a terrible state and third party interest or
usage will require this system to be in a reliable, well maintained state and who will
fund this is yet to be revealed. I doubt that users will be willing to invest in infrastruc-
ture which they do not own. This is as good as saying road users must maintain the
road if they would like to use it. I look forward to watching how this plays out, but I am
not holding my breath.
Left in the dark
Economic conditions in South Africa took a turn for the worse during September, with
Eskom data confirming that the South African economy experienced the worst-ever
month of load shedding, with 572 of the month’s 720 hours directly affected. Analysis
by Eskom’s Research, Testing and Development department further showed that,
besides 2021, there was more power cuts in September 2022 than had been expe-
rienced in any other entire year since load shedding started in 2007. The negative
impact of load shedding reaches all spheres of the economy. Companies buckle under
the inability to produce at capacity, the cost of lost production, reduced productivity,
the cost of providing alternatives and reduced margins.
This has a serious effect on productivity for any business, with electricity needed
to power everything from IT, point of sale equipment and security systems. The knock
on effect is that businesses are having to spend any spare cash that they might have
on future proofing their businesses with investment in equipment like generators,
inverters or solar installations necessary to be able to do business in South Africa.
The on going load shedding has also had an effect on the water supply in certain
regions, such as Gauteng. While the dams feeding the Gauteng province are at
satisfactory levels, electricity disruptions have affected Rand Waters ability to pump
water to various reservoirs in order to meet increased demand caused by rising spring
temperatures resulting in the implementation of water restrictions.
This meant that high water users have very quickly had to look at water saving and
water storage solutions in order to avoid the increased tariffs that are implemented by
municipalities during periods of water restrictions.
Unfortunately these factors mean that alternative electricity and water supply
solutions are necessary and will become increasingly important for businesses, both
big and small, in order to remain competitive and mitigate the disruptions caused by
unpredictable supply of these resources by government.
Reuben van Niekerk
Editor
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