The Road Freight Association (RFA) has called for political intervention by South Africa in the post-electoral conflict in Mozambique.
The RFA yesterday estimated that the full closure or suspension of Port of Maputo operations and the ceasing of any road freight logistics within Mozambique costs around R10 million a day to the local economy.
The association said direct losses to freight logistics was around R6m, which includes damage and loss of vehicles, injury, loss of drivers, looting of loads, inability to retrieve vehicles, disruptions of exports and imports, as well as the loss of business due to consignment loads not being fulfilled.
In a statement RFA CEO Gavin Kelly said the remaining R4m a day was lost in other sectors including servicing, manufacturing, tourism, retail, mining and agriculture, some of which have more reliance on road freight transport than others.
“There is no need to regurgitate what is currently happening in Mozambique. But what is important is to highlight what that crisis has done to the South African economy – and more importantly – what it has highlighted as the weaknesses and fail-points in the greater South African logistics chain,” Kelly said.
He said without the road freight route to the Port of Maputo – through Lebombo border post, many South African mining companies faced a very bleak future.
“Our drivers, our trucks, our customers’ cargo, the business image of thousands of African businesses are all threatened day after day. Drivers are beaten, trucks are looted, burnt, roads to the Port of Maputo blockaded and the very port itself placed under siege,” he said.
“We need a Statesman to explain to Mozambique that our country is suffering – and that there needs to be a resolve to agree on the way forward – and whilst that is happening, the corridor to the Port of Maputo needs to be secured. At all costs and by any means.”
Allan Seccombe, spokesperson for Minerals Council of South Africa, said the disruptions have not yet reached alarming proportions for mineral producers as a large bulk of their exports went on rail.
“As far as we understand these are very recent events. A lot of product moves by rail and there are stockpiles of chrome and coal in warehouses in Maputo. Perhaps it will depend on how long the conflict lasts,” he said.
“We are worried of course about peace in Mozambique but we are only involved at an operational level, we cannot offer a political solution.”
South African Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF) trade and transport corridor specialist, Barbara Mommen, said while there was an acute awareness of, and appreciation for, the complex and difficult circumstances which have given rise to the current situation in Mozambique, the uppermost concerns related to the extreme challenges which now faced trade in the entire region as it attempts to grapple with the aftermath of the destabilisation of the Maputo Corridor.
“The economic impact of this situation is long-term and extends beyond Mozambique to all other countries in the SADC region but in particular South Africa and Zimbabwe, as halted trade raises the risk of economic setbacks,” Mommen said.
“The supply chains currently utilising the Maputo Corridor compete internationally, and the predictability required for ensuring international competitiveness is putting these fragile supply chains at significant risk.”
Meanwhile, Kelly said that in the meantime, businesses across the SADC region were looking at bleak prospects in the interim.
“If you cannot get your goods to your customer exported through the Port of Mozambique, then there is no revenue, no funding and no sustainable resources to continue in the business,” he said.
BUSINESS REPORT