MA Transport is one of several businesses that has taken advantage of the opportunity presented by a contractor development programme initiated by Siyaqhubeka Forests a few years ago.

L-R: Linda Vilakazi (SQF), Hlengiwe Khumalo and MA Khumalo (MA Transport), and Leonard Magagula (SQF).	MA Khumalo knows how important RTMS accreditation is for road transport. His daughter Hlengiwe is also part of the business.

MA Khumalo started off his career as a truck driver in the Empangeni area, and bought his first truck in 1992. Within a few years, he was running several trucks, hauling sugar and stone before he started with timber.

In 2008, he started contracting for SQF, hauling 120 000 tons of timber a year to the Richards Bay mill. Last year, MA Khumalo became the first black transport contractor to achieve RTMS accreditation, which is a management system that demands strict compliance with a range of management standards. The key objectives of RTMS are improved health and safety and compliance with legal load limits. MA Transport also won a Mondi award for being the most improved transport contractor in 2010.

MA Transport is one of the local businesses to be awarded a new and bigger SQF contract in 2011: to haul 262 000 tons of timber a year from Kwambonambi and Port Durnford to the Mondi mill at Richards Bay. MA Khumalo has purchased four brand new Mercedes Benz Actros trucks to bolster his fleet.

Published in August 2011