Committee for logistics crisis proposed in SA

During a meeting with key exporters, President Cyril Ramaphosa proposed the establishment of a national logistics crisis committee to urgently address the ailing performance of South Africa's ports and rail.

Ramaphosa hosted the virtual meeting with executives from key exporting economic sectors such as mining and minerals, the agricultural and forestry sectors and as well as the automotive and freight forwarding industry.

The sectors represent South Africa's largest exporters who are reliant on the country's road, rail and port infrastructure.

Several meeting participants confirmed to News24 that the president said the logistics crisis is of "catastrophic proportions" and committed to rapid solutions through a new national logistics crisis committee. The committee structure is expected to be detailed at the fifth South Africa Investment Conference.

Asked about the formation of such a crisis committee, Ramaphosa's spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said: "He is considering it. He needs to work through its formulation and terms of reference".

Sources say that a crisis committee housed in the president's office will enable a more coordinated approach across ministries that impact the logistics supply chain.

Jan Havenga, a professor at Stellenbosch University, said the crisis committee is an exciting development.

Business

"We have had committees such as the one with the Minerals Council and Transnet, but the reason they don't work is that there is nowhere for business to escalate the problem. If Transnet says no, there is nowhere for business to fall back on," he said. "Now they have the backing of the president and a place to escalate it to."

In a statement released by the Presidency, Ramaphosa welcomed the proposals presented during the meeting, which are aimed at improving the state of national rail and ports.

"We need to take urgent measures to resolve the logistics backlog that continues to undermine economic growth," Ramaphosa said in the statement. "I deeply appreciate the constructive manner in which all the impacted sectors have approached the resolution of this crisis. The government will consider some of the proposals presented and act on them quickly in order to unlock much-needed investments into the economy".

The interaction with large exporters follows a meeting the president held with members of the Transnet board and executive management, which discussed challenges facing the country's logistics system, including the declining performance of the freight rail network.-Fin24