THE BIG READ

SOE praised by logistics sector for work on flood-hit rail link and Durban port

Transnet wins rare accolades from the logistics sector

They never gave up and they kept the ports going even though they were not as productive as they would have liked

Peter Besnard

CEO of the South African Association of Ship Operators and Agents

Repairs to the flood-ravaged rail system between Durban and Johannesburg are well under way and Transnet has been commended for meeting its self-imposed June deadline for getting single-line rail operations running again and for restoring port operations.

Dave Watts, national maritime consultant for the South African Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF), predicted it would be another month or two before double-line operations are restored.

Four trains were now moving on the line in both directions each day and this was expected to be ramped up to five this week, he said. This was still far short of the 20 to 25 that had moved on the double line before the floods in KwaZulu-Natal in April.

“Since the storm, for all intents and purposes there was no rail at all. Last week they [Transnet] opened a single line up on the national double line to Johannesburg, which was an exceptional job. It has taken a couple of months but the destruction was unbelievable. I’m stunned they’ve managed to get one line going [in that time frame].”

Watts said the signal system was “completely destroyed” by flooding and would only be rebuilt by early next year. This meant that until then rail operations would have to “run fairly slowly” on a manual system.

Peter Besnard, CEO of the South African Association of Ship Operators and Agents, praised Transnet for fully restoring all port operations after masses of flood debris clogged the harbour, impeding tug and small craft operations. Transnet has also restored all four lanes on Bayhead Road, which is the key access road to the Durban container terminal.

He said the port and rail authority had managed to keep operations moving in the wake of the floods, cyber attacks and the July riots.

“They never gave up and they kept the ports going even though they were not as productive as they would have liked.”

Besnard said it was unfortunate for Transnet that the severe flooding came as it was also being hit by other problems such as continuous cable theft, the dismantling of tracks and the stripping of once functional stations.

As far as Transnet meeting the September deadline for double-line operations being restored, Besnard said this would be subject to “perfect weather all the way through with no rain”.

“If there is more rain, there could be more delays. We had a spell of rainy weather [a few weeks after the flooding] and that set them back four days on getting the fourth lane [of Bayhead Road] up and running.”

There have been low rail-traffic volumes since the launch of operations last Monday, but it is considered a step in the right direction for the rail system, which usually transports 17%-20% of cargo from Durban port. Logistics groups are managing to cope, with the extra loads now being moved by road, Watts said.

Even before the floods, 80%-83% of goods coming into Durban port were being moved by road because of a lack of capacity on the rail system, which had not been operating optimally for years, said Watts.

There had, however, been delays in transporting abnormal loads of 5m and higher because of damage to the so-called B-route road used by truckers transporting these types of goods, such as earthmoving equipment and other machinery.

The “B-route” refers to the bridge near the old Durban airport, which allows truckers to avoid the highway bridges and join up

with the N3 at the Tugela Bridge turn-off.

SAAFF maritime affairs director Mike Walwyn said that while goods are moving relatively smoothly between Durban and Johannesburg, it is “quite difficult to find a trucker who has available trucks to move goods” because of a major uptick in demand.

Walwyn said the protests by truck drivers on the N3 in recent weeks over the employment of foreign drivers had added to the pressures facing logistics companies.

Walwyn said that Thursday last week had been particularly damaging as traffic was brought to a standstill for several hours. It was “difficult to predict these type of actions” and there was a risk they would occur again.

Watts said all four lanes of Bayhead Road in and out of the Durban port were now running, with a second road being built adjacent to it. This road is expected to be completed later this year.

Another access road into the port is also being planned, but Watts said this would take years to complete.

Transnet has signalled that major plans are afoot to address capacity issues. CEO Portia Derby told Business Day this week that a critical constraint faced by the stateowned company was that it did not have enough locomotives, and a tender for new locomotives would be issued next month.

Derby said the new tender would follow proper governance and commercial standards and procedures, noting that Transnet had “already had a procurement locomotive event that went wrong”.

Transnet, which was one of the focal points of state capture, had to suspend contracts worth more than R50bn to supply 1,064 diesel and electric locomotives on the grounds that they were awarded on a flawed commercial strategy and Treasury instructions were deliberately ignored.

Transnet said “detailed information on the locomotives procurement process will be made available once the tender is issued next month”.

Mining houses have missed out on about R35bn in coal, iron ore and chrome volumes that could not reach ports due to a lack of capacity on rail networks.

The Minerals Council of SA, which has

held high-level discussions with Transnet to address some of the bottlenecks in the logistics system, said this week that one of the major constraints on bulk mineral exports was the limited availability of working locomotives. Council spokesperson Allan Seccombe said the council understands that about 200 locomotives are idle because of a lack of spares.

“Transnet has spoken of the damaging consequences of corruption and malfeasance during state capture as highlighted in the Zondo inquiry. Any initiative within Transnet to increase the size of the fleet of working locomotives is welcomed by the Minerals Council and its members.”

In April, Transnet declared force majeure on its coal line to Richards Bay amid rising incidents of theft and vandalism that severely hindered rail operations. Discussions between Transnet and coal exporters are still under way.

But in Durban work is moving ahead. Transnet said work on the “alternative bypass road” at the port is expected to be concluded towards the end of November.

On the new access link road to the port, Transnet said: “Work on this project is still at an early planning phase, where a service provider is being sourced to undertake the early phases of the pre-implementation studies.”

The group said this was a joint initiative between the eThekwini municipality and Transnet, with the “ultimate goal of providing relief to Bayhead Road in terms of congestion”.

Transnet was also using the “rebuild on the container corridor as an opportunity to improve its infrastructure”, saying that during repairs to parts of the flood-damaged lines, Transnet Freight Rail took “advantage of the closure of the lines and brought forward its annual planned maintenance on the corridor”.

“It is worth noting that the corridor is currently only operating a single line. We expect repairs on the second line to be completed in September 2022, where we will begin to realise the full benefit of the repair and maintenance work completed.”

Transnet said work under way would lead to significant improvement in the “efficiency and reliability of the infrastructure, removal of speed restrictions, theft prevention, adverse weather resilience and network renewal”.