Johannesburg – The chief executive of leading South African truck and trailer body building company Serco, Clinton Holcroft, says that road infrastructure is in serious need of repair, with the poor conditions in many areas reducing safety and contributing to higher wear and tear costs for transporters as well as private motorists.
Holcroft believes that this and other issues need to be addressed if South Africa is to get back on a positive economic trajectory.
Holcroft’s comments come weeks after the Boksburg tragedy, where a gas tanker explosion caused multiple fatalities.
He said it was necessary to get South Africa back on track after more than two years of Covid-19 turbulence, with urgent action required to reduce load shedding and to improve performance levels at government departments servicing the private sector.
“Licensing departments, for example, can take several weeks to issue a new Natis number for a slight variation in vehicle body size. The same is applicable where the tare weight is changed for a modified trailer. The delay results in costly downtime for customers with little accountability or explanation from authorities.
“We have seen business sentiment improve since Covid restrictions were lifted. However, many of our customers in the transport industry are finding business tough because of the soaring cost of fuel and a high level of overcapacity in a relatively flat market,” he said.
Holcroft said their industry was still experiencing delays due to issues in the supply of parts and truck chassis, which was exacerbated by problems and congestion at ports.
He said that the economy remained under pressure with KwaZulu-Natal still taking strain following the floods last year and the violent civil unrest in 2021, and a lot of infrastructure was still not repaired.
“We anticipate the economy in 2023 will be similar to that of 2022, unless there is a significant reduction in load shedding, which is a major handbrake in so many respects,” added Holcroft.
The Star