Industry has voiced its frustration with the Department of Transport over the terms of reference guiding the work of an inclusive task team focused on the height restriction of ISO containers. It is hoped that these frustrations will be addressed at the next sitting of the task team appointed by Blade Nzimande, minister of transport, to look into the height restriction of ISO containers. With a moratorium in place exempting compliance with regulation 224(b) of the National Road Traffic Act (NRTA) until 1 January 2020, ISO containers can be moved at a height of 4.6m for the next year. The moratorium also suspends the application of punitive measures and calls on law enforcement agencies to collect data of motor vehicles transporting ISO containers during the coming months. Transport ministry spokesperson Ishmael Mnisi said the role of the task team was to ensure that a smooth transition was guaranteed when the current moratorium ended, ensuring any unintended consequences were minimised. He confirmed that one meeting had already taken place where the terms of reference had been discussed and that work in this regard was ongoing. Mike Walwyn, a representative on the committee, said a second meeting planned for December had been postponed but it was hoped that a meeting would take place within the next two weeks. This is extremely urgent as the terms of reference need to be ratified as soon as possible - and with industry unanimously rejecting the current terms of reference these have to be drawn up again, according to Walwyn. He said they had been in contact with government officials and their frustration with the document circulated after the meeting had been communicated. “We hope to address this and see new terms of reference drawn up following the next meeting.” According to Fruit South Africa, the terms of reference had been rejected because they were simply deemed not to be in accordance with the specific research requirements as outlined by the minister when he appointed the task team. There is also concern from industry that the delay in the establishment of the terms of reference could ultimately compromise the timelines set out for the task team. Industry effectively has only 11 months to either convince government to amend regulation 224(b) or overhaul the entire transport fleet of the country to allow for ISO container movements at 4.3m. Walwyn told FTW the task team had until June this year to conclude its research findings and deliver a report to the minister. He remained positive that the parties involved on the task team would come to an agreement over the terms of reference.
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The task team has until June this year to conclude its research findings. – Mike Walwyn
