Transnet force majeure to remain in place until line is fully functional

Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) has announced 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 in the derailment, causing backlogs and costing it millions in revenue.

TFR said it believed the derailment was as 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 after a meeting with local stakeholders everything was back to normal. “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 cleanup crew at the derailment.

TFR’s North Corridor carries heavy-haul coal, chrome and other commodities to the Richards Bay port in KwaZulu-Natal.

TFR said despite heavy rain over the weekend and a complex recovery processes, a joint TFR and industry team had cleared all 97 derailed wagons from the site on Monday.

TFR will be able to determine the extent of the damage and when normal train operations resume once the derailment site has been completely cleared of the spilt coal and debris.

“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 has 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, as well as rising incidences of cable theft on railway 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 11-day strike caused SA to lose the opportunity to move R65.3bn worth of goods.

“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 when a security officer was ambushed and fatally injured at the Natalspruit depot in Germiston,” TFR said in a statement.

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.