OVERVIEW
Transport and logistics Decongestion of ports is a priority. SECTOR INSIGHT Airlink has signed partnerships with two world-leaders.
Credit: South African Heavy Haul Association
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etting freight through South Africa’s ports in a more efficient manner has become an urgent priority. A Port of Durban Decongestion Task Team includes a broad range of private and public sector organisations involved in the port. Through nine targeted workstreams the team is tackling the root causes of Bayhead congestion and is working on improving coordination, planning, operations and cargo flows. A mandatory automated truck booking system has been introduced at Durban Container Terminal Pier 1 and Pier 2, while the Grindrod, FPT and Bulk Terminal depots have also piloted their own booking systems. Although Transnet Port Terminals and Transnet Freight Rail are vital to the smooth running of the loading systems, private operators of storage facilities and trucking companies also need to synchronise their operations. In Cape Town, efforts to work on decongestion include the City of Cape Town, the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the provincial government. The 2020 Technical Conference of the South African Heavy Haul Association tackled the issue of bringing smart technology to the railway system under the theme, “Smart, Resilient Railway Operations & Infrastructure”. Smart systems can self-monitor and self-diagnose railway conditions and then predict failures or problems before
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they occur. One of the biggest problems facing the South African rail system is cable theft, which leads to frequent delays along the network. Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) has had a new CEO since April 2020. Siza Mzimela, with a background in airlines and logistics, wants to divert road freight to rail, which currently attracts just 20% of South Africa’s general freight. One of her goals is to find a South African manufacturer who can produce railway lines. Transnet Freight Rail’s operations represent about 80% of Africa’s rail infrastructure. With 25 000 employees TFR has specialist divisions for hauling coal and iron ore together with a general freight division which transports everything from grain to chemicals. It is on these specialised lines that TFR excels. A new record was set in 2019 when 375 wagons were hitched to the Sishen-Saldanha train that hauls iron ore from the Northern Cape to a dedicated terminal at Saldanha in the Western Cape. The total volume transported in 2019 amounted to 58.4-million tons.
