FTW journalist Kevin Mayhew
joined the South African Railways
and Harbours (SAR&H) to try to
make his one-year conscription
into the army between June 1976
and July 1977 more financially
worthwhile. He was working as a
Grade 2 Clerk at the receiving and
despatch offices of the container
depot when it had just opened.
I recall the constant strain on
our shifts as drivers – also new
to this box concept – could
not understand why their
operational lives were so
affected by this revolutionary
introduction. The
problem was that
along with it went a
greater reliance on
computers, which
were also new to all.
The hot Durban
conditions were not
great for computers,
so our recording of
documentation
would fail. It was very difficult to
tell a driver who was working on a
salary plus time-saved bonus why
he was snarled up outside the office
because of a machine.
As with much of what SAR&H
did, there was a singular lack of
urgency brought on by the simple
fact that they had monopolised
transport. Any private player had
to jump through hoops to get a
permit to move cargo by road in
competition with SAR&H. So
railway vehicles controlled the
short haul road trips to and
from the container depots and
its trains moved the boxes to
City Deep or wherever they
were destined. Those
coming in carrying
imports and leaving
with exports were
also controlled by the
railways which owned
the container depots
and just about
anything that moved
therein.
I worked alongside some very
capable and generally young-atheart
individuals who gelled well
and we turned up the creativity
for solutions to help the desperate
drivers. Putting our heads together
we came up with solutions that
eventually got all under control
and everybody was happy again –
although sometimes the interim
solutions fell foul of the dictates of
the powers-that-be in the feared
Bayhead Building within eyesight of
our rebellious methods.
One of the benefits of our coalface
control of the boxes and tankers
was that the empty returns from
Natal Chemical Products (NCP)
came back with a significant residue
of its emptied contents available
for tapping. You should try 100%
alcohol with coke after your shift
– kind of made the frustrations
dissipate.
I eventually left this exciting
challenge to take up journalism so
it is with fond memories that I talk
containers again.
