IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa expressed concern at the continued pile-up of trucks in Richards Bay. Picture: Khaya Ngwenya / Independent Newspapers
Durban — The IFP has warned of renewed attacks on hundreds of trucks stranded on the N2 turn-off to Richards Bay port terminal on the north-east coast of KwaZulu-Natal.
Reacting to the ongoing backlogs in Richards Bay and Durban harbours, IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa expressed his fears that the continuing pile-up of long haul trucks on the N2 and John Ross highway leading to the Richards Bay harbour was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode any time. He argued that criminals who attacked trucks in various parts of the country a few months ago may be planning to take advantage of the continuing pile-up.
“What we are seeing there is a disaster waiting to happen. If those criminals can set one truck on fire it will be a disaster as they are parked bumper to bumper. These are failures of the government that has neglected to maintain our port infrastructure,” said Hlabisa.
A surge in demand for coal in Europe and Asia over the past two years, and particularly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, has brought hundreds of trucks on to the route leading to South Africa’s main coal export terminal in Richards Bay.
A few months ago the country saw a wave of truck attacks on the N3 and N2 in KwaZulu-Natal as well as in Mpumalanga and Limpopo which police described as well-organised.
The IFP called for the ports backlog to be urgently resolved. It was not only exposing trucks to attack, it said, but was paralysing the economy as hundreds of ships also continued to wait on Durban shores to offload goods to be taken inland. For the country to do well and thrive economically, it must be exporting locally produced goods like coal because the money comes into the country, unlike imports, he said.
Touching on the IFP’s economic policies, Hlabisa said the government under his party will relax taxes such as excise duty to encourage investments. The party will hold its policy conference next week where it will review its policies as it gears for its manifesto launch, set for March.
The IFP accused the governing party of destroying South Africa’s ports infrastructure, saying when the IFP takes over it will have to reconstruct everything in the country that would have been destroyed by the current government.
In 1994 the government had to introduce a reconstruction and development programme (RDP) to undo the apartheid damage, but when the new government takes over next year it will have to reconstruct the infrastructure to undo the 30-year damage by the current government,” said Hlabisa.
Meanwhile, there is a growing concern over the collapse of infrastructure in Durban and Richards Bay harbours which was cited as a cause for the delays of ships and trucks to offload goods being imported and exported.
The problems at the country’s two main harbours have prompted the DA to conduct an aerial oversight visit in Durban waters where hundreds of ships have been stranded for months waiting to dock.
After the visit, the DA lashed out at President Cyril Ramaphosa, accusing him of coming to KZN to cruise on a newly launched cruise ship named after Nelson Mandela, but being silent on addressing the backlog in Durban.
The president had recently attended the launch of a tourism cruiseliner built by the Mediterranean Sea Cruise Company (MSC). The Presidency hit back at the DA’s accusation, saying the president was dealing with the ports problem through a national logistics crisis committee and did not have to report to the DA about the progress that the committee had made.
On the other hand, the IFP-led uMhlathuze Local Municipality was mounting a legal challenge against Transnet and the government to account for the crisis the trucks were creating on John Ross highway.
The municipality leadership said the backlog has not only become a financial strain to the municipality since it has to deploy more traffic officers to man highways and the N2, which was not their responsibility, but it was a headache for motorists coming or leaving the Richards Bay town. In terms of the Road Traffic Act, freeways and highways were provincial traffic officers’ responsibility.
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