Transport connections

SA is more economically advanced than other African nations, which can be traced back to
the Dutch and English. Because of its dominance as a refuelling station and mineral mining
zone SA has been left with a better economic structure.

Transport infrastructure
In the rest of Africa transport structures link various ports and states, but these are not
connected properly.
* SA harbours act as alternatives to ports further up in Africa. SA dominates maritime
transport, with almost 6x the volume of containers handled than the nearest competitor
(Kenya). Large ships will often berth in SA before some goods are offloaded and sent to
other states.
-SA ports are able to handle large quantities of goods quickly, while neighbours have
unpredictable delays. Ports also provide refrigeration and storage that Angola,
Mozambique and Tanzania do not have.
-SA ports offer connections to the Far East, Europe and N.America.
-SA ports are linked to a reliable railway network

*Air transport
-SA airports act as hubs to SADC capitals. The same is true to East, Central and West
African capitals
-N. Africa is only really tied to SA via Cairo or Europe.

*Economic development in SA also facilitates business activities such as transport. SA has a
much denser railway and road infrastructure which is connected to the rest of the region. SA
operates in the highest tier of the Logistics Performance Index (measuring conditions for
transport), ranking us on par with states such as New Zealand and South Korea. Our
neighbouring states are ranked as 3
rd
or 4
th
tier amongst the worlds least-developed
countries.
-transport to major hubs (CT, Joburg etc) takes only half a day
-A larger percentage of roads are in good condition than in rest of SADC (88% vs
47%)

Why does the region rely on SA despite the fact that it is often further away?
1. Colonial history
Transport is historically centred on SA as colonial expansion moved from CT
northwards. Cape-to-Cairo vision of England also leads railways to be built in a north-
south direction. Until Chinese railway systems were built in 1976 this was the sum
total of the rail system. German and Portuguese transport expansions were blocked
by political treaties, so these areas did not develop as significant transport hubs.
2. Transport diplomacy under Apartheid
SA attempts to maintain political dominance in the region by creating reliance on its
transport network. The netowrks in states such as Mozambique and Angola
deteriorate rapidly without attention that was previously given by colonial experts.
War in many regions also damaged the transport system.