College of Business and Economics | Annual Report 2020 80 hosT of The TransPorT forum sig The Department of Transport and Supply Chain Management proudly hosts the Transport Forum SIG four times a year. The first Transport Forum SIG was hosted on 5 March 2020 before South Africa went into lockdown. The topic of this forum was ‘Do we need High-speed Rail?’. In her opening address, Prof Noleen Pisa, Head of the Department emphasised that effective transport is pivotal for the economy. She stated that academia and industry should collaborate closely to find and implement solutions to enhance businesses and travel. Mr Jack van der Merwe, the newly appointed CEO for the Gauteng Transport Authority, revisited the draft White Paper on Rail. This White Paper must be approved to position South Africa rail as the backbone of land transport by 2050. He said that the road dominance we are experiencing, with the associated congestion, is a result of “bad” rail systems and not “good” roads systems. Mr Francois Meyer, GM: Transnet SOC Ltd, reflected mainly from a freight perspective. He said that the debate is not about gauge only, it is also about gradients, turning radius, axle load, kinematic envelope, cost, etc. It is not viable for Transnet to upgrade its rail network to standard gauge but there is an opportunity for certain portions of the network to accommodate high-speed rail. Mr Roelof van Tonder, Director: Market Insight and Development: Africa House, said that developing bulk freight linkages across Southern Africa forms a large part of railway construction projects in the region with the main objective to get copper out of the DRC. Mr Tommie Snyman, ITS Specialist: Huawei South Africa, emphasized the importance of the commuter experience. All information must be obtainable and accessible on mobile devices. All systems should be integrated with one Operations Command Centre (OCC) for Gauteng. Due to lockdown restrictions, the second Transport Forum SIG was hosted on Zoom on 4 June 2020 with the topic, ‘Industry’s response and experience because of the COVID-19 Pandemic’ and the third forum on 3 September 2020 with the topic, ‘The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on e-commerce, opportunities for LSP’s and retailers’. On 1 October 2020, the Department hosted the fourth Annual Transport Forum SIG in celebration of Transport Month with a focus on ‘Driving the necessity for change in public Transport in South Africa’. Rose Luke, Associate Professor in Prof Jackie Walters Prof Noleen Pisa Prof Rose Luke
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