OVERVIEW
Transport and logistics The new Musina Intermodal Terminal is operating.
T
he official opening of the Musina Intermodal Terminal near the Beitbridge border post is further confirmation of Limpopo’s status as a leader in transport and logistics. Located in the town of Musina on the N1 highway leading to Zimbabwe, the terminal is used to move cargo from road to rail. Warehousing facilities on site make for loading efficiencies in the main cargoes such as chrome, fertiliser, coal, fuel and citrus. Bulk and containerised cargo are handled, with an annual capacity of threemillion tons per annum. Logistics is a vital feature of the Limpopo economy for two reasons – the province has huge volumes of minerals and horticultural products to be transported to markets elsewhere and the province is strategically positioned. In addition to the N1 highway, the N11 is a primary road corridor and there are nine provincial road corridors. Freight volumes on the N11 (to Botswana and Mpumalanga) have increased since 2006, whereas the R33 carries less traffic. The building of the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (SEZ) will further boost Limpopo’s importance as a transport and logistics hub. Roads Agency Limpopo (RAL), of which the provincial government is the sole shareholder, accounts for about a third of the budget of the Limpopo Department of Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure. It has been successfully focussed on tackling a backlog of infrastructure maintenance, but it has also created partnerships with the national roads agency and private companies to deliver roads. The South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) is involved in two major road projects in support of the Musina-Makhado SEZ. The N1 is to be re-routed and a new single carriageway created in the Musina CBD. A bypass into ZCC Moria, the site of huge gatherings every Easter, has been completed. Elsewhere, RAL is working with Implats to build 17km of road near the company’s Marula mine. LIMPOPO BUSINESS 2019/20
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SECTOR INSIGHTS The Great North Transport company runs more than 500 buses. Since 2014, some R2.6-billion has been spent by the provincial government on building bridges and upgrading gravel roads to tar. Polokwane is the site of major investments in transport infrastructure. SANRAL is building a R640-million ring road and a bus rapid transport system is being introduced to the provincial capital. The scheme is called Leeto la Polokwane. Within the province more broadly, 22.6% of households in Limpopo use bus transport and 45.8% use taxis (2013 Household Travel Survey). Outside Polokwane, the towns of Tzaneen, Lephalale, Burgersfort and Musina (a border post with Zimbabwe) are all important in the field of logistics. Great North Transport falls under the Limpopo Economic Development Agency. The company has more than 500 buses, covers about 36-million
