Mobility
data show that South Africans have been travelling during the lockdown, with
trips across provincial borders surging even before the relaxation of
restrictions on inter-provincial travel.
Although
many trips from one province to another were banned under Level 3 of the
lockdown, anonymised data from vehicle recovery and fleet management company
Netstar show that there were many inter-provincial trips during Level 3.
On August 18, South Africa moved into Level 2, with the economy further opening, alcohol and cigarette sales being allowed, and interprovincial movement restrictions being lifted.
The
lifting of the travel ban was much anticipated, but telematic data from Netstar
and its partners shows that national road travel was already well underway
before Level 2. In some cases, travel between neighbouring provinces was higher
under Level 3 than Level 2.
Travel
between more distant provinces rose with the relaxation of travel restrictions
under Level 2.
The
greatest amount of outbound travel has been seen coming out of Gauteng, and
this also grew with the easing to Level 2 restrictions.
Inbound
travel has been highest into KwaZulu-Natal – reaching a peak on August 21.
Gauteng inbound visitors were only two thirds of what KZN received on the same
day. Other provinces also saw an uptick in visitors.
However,
South Africans may have been anticipating the move to Level 2 after the long
months of the lockdown, as stats show more movements towards the end of Level
3. The Women’s Day long weekend of 8-10 August saw a spike in interprovincial
travel, despite the Level 3 lockdown restrictions. In fact, outbound travel
from Gauteng was greater on August 9 (Level 3) than on August 15 on the
following weekend (Level 2).
“Mobility
is the lifeblood of the South African economy,” said Netstar MD Pierre Bruwer.
“Our data shows interprovincial travel is picking up rapidly since we moved to
Level 2. However, it seems the change was long awaited, as movement had already
begun before the announcement was made.”
“Level
3 did allow for interprovincial travel for essential services and with the
right paperwork,” said Bruwer. “It’s possible that the Level 3 regulations made
it possible for people who really needed to travel to do so. This may be why we
are not seeing such a surge.”
Netstar’s
telematics are among the company’s “Internet of Things” capabilities that give
useful insights into the South African economy. Netstar has been sharing stats
on driver behaviour since the beginning of the South African COVID-19
lockdown.
The interprovincial travel stats were
obtained by tracking vehicles and comparing the times and locations where the
vehicles were turned off and on.
