Transnet National Port Authority (TNPA) said on Saturday that it had lifted a “Certificate of Cessation of Non-Compliance issued by the Port Authority on July 13, 2023 to suspend operations of one of its terminal operators.”
Since then, the plant operator has submitted an implementation plan and committed itself to solving the environmental management issues set forth in the certificate. It has been observed that the station operator has already started implementing the corrective action.”
The Environmental Management Issues remain undisclosed and TNPA has not responded to them Daily Maverick Inquiries about it at the time of publication.
Exports through the port include wood chips and copper concentrates. Fertilizer also moves through the port. Coal exports passing through Richards Bay Coal Terminal were not affected.
On Saturday, the carriers were urged to wait 12 hours before sending trucks into port to allow the backlog to clear, the statement said.
Thus ends the saga that capped a terrible week for the critical South African trucking industry which saw 21 trucks attacked and set on fire by arsonists in KZN, Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
It was widely reported that three suspects had been arrested and the army deployed as an additional security measure.
Read more at The Daily Maverick: Port Richards Bay mills to stop “environmental management issues”, coal exports were not affected
Train derailment
Meanwhile, Transnet confirmed over the weekend Daily MaverickA train is reported to have derailed on the Maputo Line at Waterfall Onder in Mpumalanga.
Transnet Freight Rail’s Northeast Corridor confirms that urgent recovery efforts are underway to restore operations on the Maputo Line. This is after trolleys derailed on the single line at Waterval Onder in Mpumalanga on Sunday. There were no reports of injuries.
All carriages have since been disinfected and the line has been handed over to the Network Rail Unit for rail rehabilitation. The estimated time for repair and resumption of normal services is at noon on Monday, January 17, 2023, the state-run logistics company said.
Such incidents are troubling and while they appear to have been resolved, they represent the tip of a growing iceberg of problems in Transnet that cost the mining industry and other sectors tens of billions of rand annually in lost exports. It is hoped that the truckloads have also been cut in the bud as Transnet’s escalating problems mean more and more goods must be delivered on South Africa’s increasingly battered roads. DM
