Let business run key infrastructure, South African retailer says

The head of South African grocer Pick n Pay Stores Ltd. urged the government to allow private companies to manage critical infrastructure, as a strike hobbles the nation’s state-owned ports and freight-rail operator.

Business would be willing to “take over the running of infrastructure” from government-owned companies that are unable to manage and properly maintain the nation’s roads, rail and other fixed installations, Pick n Pay Chairman Gareth Ackerman said in an interview with Cape Town-based news website News24.

Ackerman also reiterated calls made by business during riots last year -- in which more than 350 people died -- for the vital Mooi River Toll Plaza to be moved. The facility, located on a national highway that connects the main port of Durban to the economic hub of Gauteng, has become a point of conflict during protests that prevent goods being ferried by trucks from passing through.