Transnet force majeure to remain in place until line fully functional
Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) has announced that its force majeure, declared after a train carrying coal to the Richards Bay port derailed last week, will remain in place until the line is fully functional.
About 5,000 tonnes of coal was spilt as a result of the derailment, causing backlogs and costing it millions in revenue.
The organisation said it believed the derailment was a result of “violent, extortion efforts by the Ulundi Business Forum”. Police are investigating and no arrests have been made thus far.
Ulundi Business Forum chairperson Musa Ngqulunga has denied that his members were responsible for the derailment or the violence.
“This is not true. Yes, there was a disagreement last Friday and we stopped work for about three hours,” said Ngqulunga.
He said everything was back to normal following a meeting with local stakeholders.
“All we want is for locals to be included in the projects using our equipment. It is not necessary to get people from Johannesburg coming with their equipment when people are starving and jobless.”
He said his organisation was part of the clean-up crew at the derailment. “My understanding is all should be sorted out by tonight (Monday).”
TFR’s North Corridor moves heavy-haul coal, chrome, and other commodities to the Richards Bay port in KwaZulu-Natal.
TFR said despite heavy rain at the weekend and the complex recovery processes, a joint TFR and industry team had cleared all 97 derailed wagons from the site early on Monday. This is almost 24 hours sooner than was anticipated when the recovery and clean-up work resumed on Friday evening.
TFR will be able to determine the extent of the damage and when normal train operations can resume once the derailment site has been cleared of the spilt coal and debris.
“The force majeure remains in place as the rail line is still closed,” the company said.
“Industry has contracted the Ulundi Business Forum for equipment to assist in the derailment recovery and the Forum now insists on direct contracts with Transnet over and above what they have with industry,”a statement from the utility said.
“Transnet rejected this demand and the forum resorted to violence which included assault, blocking access roads and the discharging of a firearm.”
It said the SA Police Service (SAPS) are on the scene and Transnet also activated its security personnel as well as the public order policing unit to the site. No injuries were reported.
The derailment took place a few weeks after a wage strike affected the company’s operations. The strike and rising incidences of cable theft on its lines have weighed heavily on the company’s recovery from floods that ravaged the province and halted operations in April.
The SA Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF) said the 11day strike caused SA to lose the opportunity to move goods worth R65.3bn.
“The consequences of cable theft are not limited to financial losses but often result in tragedy. TFR security is under constant threat such as the incident last week where a security officer was ambushed and fatally injured at the Natalspruit depot in Germiston,” TFR said.
The rampant theft and vandalism has had a severe impact on freight movements and a direct impact on TFR’s and customer’s revenues as the organisation is forced to cancel trains daily.