Juanita Maree, chair of the South African Association of Freight Forwarders, says one of the most damaging consequences of the rioting that brought 78% of trucks in KwaZulu-Natal to a halt, closed key transport corridors and disrupted supply chains will be the loss of trust in SA as the "gateway to Africa" among global companies."When supply chains are disrupted you lose the trust of your clients. That's what we're seeing now."Maree says the rot set in three years ago when the government failed to act against the looting and burning of trucks carrying the products of clients in the US, EU and China from the port of Durban into Africa."Whenever I talked in international forums the question that kept coming up was: 'How can we trust you?'," she says."That was very difficult to answer before the closure of the port of Durban and parts of the N3, N4 and N2. Now it's going to be even more difficult."A measure of normality has been restored along these critical transport corridors b...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.