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Transnet to meet with amakhosi and South African Police Service to resolve threats and derailment

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

After a train carrying export coal to Richards Bay was derailed near Ulundi on Tuesday, Transnet said it would meet with traditional leaders in the area as it is extremely concerned about disruptions to its operations.

“Transnet Freight Rail will over the next few days be engaging with amakhosi and the South African Police Service to resolve threats to the organisation as well as disruptions to its operations along the North Corridor this past week,” the rail utility said in a statement.

Earlier on Tuesday, Transnet reported that a train carrying export coal to Richards Bay derailed outside iNtshamanzi, near Ulundi. The cause of the incident is under investigation.

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The North Corridor runs from Mpumalanga coal fields to Richards Bay. Chrome is also transported along the corridor.

Transnet said it is “extremely concerned” by the threats and disruptions to its operations, and highlighted its job creation and empowerment of businesses along the corridor.

South Africa’s coal exports to Europe have surged amid an energy crisis exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions.  Transnet saw 70 derailments in 2021. 

SOURCE: News 24

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BusinessSouthern AfricaTransportation & Logisitics

Transnet to receive in state support R8.5bn to ‘build efficiency’

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

Transnet, State-owned logistics company is to receive its first cash injection from the fiscus in decades as it battles to recover from flood damage and a shortage of locomotives due to contractual problems with manufacturers. 

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced R5.8 billion of support for Transnet in the Medium-term Budget Policy Statement. The money is allocated specifically for repairing infrastructure damaged by the recent floods (R2.9 billion) and R2.9 billion to procure spare parts and new locomotives from China’s CRRC Corporation. 

Transnet has been in dispute with CRRC for several years after it terminated an extensive procurement programme for new locomotives mid-stream, as the contracts were tainted by corruption. In response, CRRC refused to supply the locomotives that had been procured with spare parts. 

Due to the dispute with CRRC and other manufacturers, Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) has 331 “long-standing locomotives” that it has been able to use. Earlier this month, the company announced that it had reached an agreement with CRRC and that the supply chain would be reinstated. 

The cash injection for Transnet will assist the TFR to arrest falling volumes and revenue. Volumes have been falling since 2018. In 2018, it moved 215.1 million tons (mt) but by 2021/22 this had fallen to 172.7mt. 

The company is in a race against time to improve its revenue flows to avoid recurring liquidity constraints. In July, facing a liquidity crunch, Transnet raised a $1.5 billion loan and a R12 billion bridge-to-bond facility which it will need to convert to a longer-term loan during 2023/24.

Finance minister Enoch Godongwana said in a briefing to journalists before his speech: “It is more effective to fund state-owned enterprises to do the right thing and increase efficiencies because revenue foregone exceeds the support they would need (at a later point).”

Source: News 24

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BusinessSouthern AfricaTransportation & Logisitics

Transnet Freight Rail reopens, Containers set to resume movement

by Radarr Africa
written by Radarr Africa

Transnet Freight Rail has reopened a line on the Container Corridor, a key economic node to move freight between Gauteng and Durban with Transnet progressing to repair its flood-hit operation.

The single line between Durban and Cato Ridge was reopened on Monday after operations had been suspended since 11 April when devastating floods wreaked havoc in KwaZulu-Natal and damaged the country’s key export and import infrastructure.

Freight between Gauteng and Durban will now resume on the line. Additional capacity will be unlocked on the mainline in September, when repairs on the second line are completed and it is reopened to traffic.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan commended Transnet on significant progress in repair work.

This includes repairs to serious damage on the railway line, which had to be reconstructed between Durban and Cato Ridge; the reconstruction of parts of Bayhead Road where 60m of the road had collapsed; the creation of a new access road to the Port of Durban; and maintenance of the railway line, which was brought forward. 

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As part of the second phase of the rehabilitation project at the Port of Durban, Transnet National Ports Authority on Friday successfully commissioned the fourth lane on Bayhead Road, which leads to the Durban Container Terminals and the Island View Precinct in the Port, and was heavily impacted when parts of the road were washed away by the floods.

Transnet Freight Rail is now moving staged loads between Durban and Cato Ridge, which were prevented from reaching their destinations during the floods. Once completed – which is estimated to be by the end of today – flows between City Deep and Durban will commence.

The opening of the line, the department said, is testament to Transnet’s internal capabilities as 90% of the rehabilitation work comprising design and construction was executed by Transnet’s Rail Network Construction division and 10% was outsourced.

“The recovery from the damage caused by the flooding in KwaZulu-Natal will enable exporters and importers that utilise the port of Durban to return to normality, and Transnet will endeavour to ensure that all shipping lines continue to service the Port of Durban,” the DPE said. “Much work still needs to be done in the south basin area, and Transnet continues to work with the province, municipality and other stakeholders in that area to ensure this work is concluded speedily.”

Source: News 24

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