The three cabinet ministers who visited the Heidelberg weigh station this morning (July 18) were delighted with the number of trucks making their way down the N3 to KwaZulu Natal.

Cargo vehicles and an array of SANDF vehicles were observed passing Heidelberg and it seems that, for the time being, some form of normality has returned to the N3 route.

The Minister of Public Enterprises, Mr Pravin Gordhan, indicated that 1800 trucks had headed south on both the N3 and N1 highways over the past 24 hours, averaging around 93 trucks per hour. This was in order to provide basic supplies to the people affected by the violent protests over the past week. Violence, he said, had only made poorer people suffer even more.

Mr Gordhan thanked private businesses for working together with the government in ensuring that those hardest hit were now going to receive much-needed relief. When asked if the government’s response to the crisis had been adequate, Minister Gordhan said that the economic response had been good but that there had been a shortage in numbers as far as security forces were concerned which had led to a somewhat delayed response.

Both Minister Gordhan and Minister Khumbudzo Ntshaveni (Small Business Development) emphasized that government was in the process of putting an economic recovery plan together for those businesses affected by the violence and looting. As soon as this plan had been approved by government, details would be made known.

Minister Ntshaveni was also happy that since the re-opening of the N3 highway there had been no reports of any violence along the route. A number of roadblocks had been set up along the route, specifically at the entrances and exits of Gauteng, the Free State and KZN, and patrols were being conducted in hot-spot areas.

When asked what the opening of the N3 route would mean to smaller businesses in KZN, Minister Ntshaveni said many of them purchased their stock from the larger retailers, and they would now be able to restock their stores as supplies arrive in the province. She said that communities would come out of this crisis stronger than ever before.

Minister Ebrahim Patel (Trade and Industry) mentioned that Gauteng alone accounted for approximately one third of the country’s economy and the closing of the N3 route had two significant points of impact. These were the distribution of raw materials for manufacturing and production, as well as the distribution to retail stores and warehouses.

He also said that the rebuilding of infrastructure like factories and warehouses which had been damaged or burnt was going to take a bit of time to repair but business was already looking to partner with government in taking this step.