Trade Prospects in South Africa.
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By A. R. Atkey.
Since last contributing to " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR " eonie impressions of South Africa in regard to business motor vehicles, over a year ago (See our issue of March 23rd, 1905.—En.), I have had another opportunity of visiting every important commercial centre in that country, and could not help feeling greatly disappointed at the small amount of progress which had been made in the matter of motors for industrial purposes. At the same time, this is really nothing to be surprised at, because the country has, as yet, scarcely started to recover itself from the disastrous effects of the great Boer War upon its trade.
From the point of view of autornobilism, both commercial and otherwise, Johannesburg must always be regarded as the capital of South Africa, and here I found that there had been a gratifying increase in the use and popularity of the pleasure car. The commercial vehicle, however, had not received anything like a corresponding impetus, and enquiries showed that there were two main causes for the apparent lack of enterprise. In the first place, the; country has its special requirements, and, even for use in Johannesburg itself, the ordinary commercial motor would not long survive The conditions under which it would have to work. Those prevailing outside the city itself, and which practically every motor for business purposes would have to lace, cab for the very greatest care in construction and for special design on the part of home manufacturers. Up to the present time the demand has not warranted those concerned giving this market that special attention which is absolutely necessary to secure success. In the second place, some enterprising firms have made attempts to utilise commercial motors of the ordinary standard pattern, such as are made and sold for use in this country and on the Continent. These have, almost invariably, proved themselves failures, and, as their owners had purchased on the usual terms of entire payment before delivery with no guarantee whatever, their enterprise as been most disastrous from a financial point of view, and they are not likely to make any further investment in this direction until some very sure and positive proof has been forthcoming that the transaction is likely to prove commercially sound.
The introduction of the commercial motor has been, further, greatly prejudiced by the fiasco in Johannesburg . with regard to the service of motorbuses, started some three or four years ago. When I was in Johannesburg in toc4 there still remained one or two of the original dozen used upon the roads, but this year I found that they had joined the majority and were being stored in a shed, a sorry spectacle for the enthusiast in the matter of public service motor vehicles. I believe the original price in Johannesburg for these buses was about £i,000, and, as their cost of upkeep was something abnormal, it will be seen at once how disastrous was this initial effort to popularise the motorbus in South Africa. As far as lorries are concerned. :the only types which appear to have given any real satisfaction are the steam vehicles, and I noticed several wagons doing apparently very good work on behalt of the Government Railways. I was, however, unable to ascertain any figures as to the comparative cost against "horseflesh." Leaving the Transvaal for Natal, I found that the capital of the colony, Pietermaritzburg, was, as yet, practically a complete stranger to motor vehicles of any description. There are one or two motor-bicycles, and one or two small single-cylinder cars, but the motor movement is, virtually, an unrecognisable quantity at the moment. This may be in some measure accounted for by the geographical position of the capital, for it is surrounded on all sides by mountains, and the roads are almost useless for motors of any description. In Durban, there were some signs of an awakening, and, although various attempts at the introduction of commercial motors had ended disastrously, no very serious endeavour had been made to deal with the business side of motoring, and, consequently, there is still a good chance for development in this direction. The number of private car owners had increased from one or two, in 1904, to some two dozen or more, in 1906, and the formation of a club was not the least encouraging sign .of progress. The service of
motorbuses, of which there had been a good deal of talk in Durban, had evidently been crushed by the conversion of the old horse-trams into an up-to-date system of electric tramways on the trolley principle. In East London 1 found but one respectable specimen of an automobile, an 8-1111.p. Panhard, and there were no commercial vehicles whatever. In Port Elizabeth, some two years ago, there was quite a prospect of considerable business, accordingto the advertisements of merchants and lirms professing to deal in motorcars, but there seems to have been no advance beyond the advertising stage, and certainly no serious move has been made, so far as commercial vehicles are concerned.
In Cape Town we have the nearest approach to an English city, and here automobilism is fairly vigorous, and various attempts have been made to introduce motor lorries for business purposes. Up to the present, however, very little success has been achieved, mainly because of the difficulties attending the proper management and control of such vehicles as have been imported. Above all, and in considering the country as whole, the main reason for the delay in adopting the commercial motor probably lies in the fact that there has been an enormous reaction in trade since the Imperial troops were withdrawn. At the conclusion of the war all the world assumed that fortunes were going to be made in record time in South Africa. In anticipation of this, huge stocks of every description of goods and machinery were imported, and merchants incurred heavy liabilities which could only be met by the arrival of the anticipated boom. This, unfortunately, did not arrive, with the result that a trade depression of unprecedented gravity has been existing throughout the country for the last two or three years, and until this state of things is altered there is very little chance for the development of a new industry like that of the commercial motor. That the country needs it, and will take it up, is certain, but it is equally certain that if success is to follow special attention must be given to the requirements of the country, and manufacturers must realise that it is worse than useless to send out quotations for, or to seek for trade with, vehicles designed for use either in England or on the Continent. If the special needs of these colonies are properly catered for, there is no doubt that the future will bring its rdward.