The kilometres-long truck gridlock situation in Richards Bay has reached crisis point, with local business, residents and even senior traffic authorities, saying the problem must now be escalated to presidential level with a view to overcoming what is being called a capture of the city by “indiscriminate coal exporters”.
The medical fraternity have now joined the chorus condemning the seeming inaction of Transnet and road transporters to remedy a situation that has choked the main access roads to the city of Richards Bay, with up to 1 800 tipper trucks attempting to enter the port each day. The limited access to parts of Richards Bay and the general uMhlathuze area was hindering private and government medical personnel getting to emergencies in certain areas, which could have tragic consequences, one post on social media said.
“Government at presidential level is now required to find a solution to this situation. Businesses are being compromised, residential properties badly affected by the coal dust, with some residents opting to up and leave for a more peaceful area, and the whole road infrastructure is being destroyed. Richards Bay is a city under siege,” said chairman of the SA Road Federation, Zululand, and deputy-president of the Zululand Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mike Patterson.
Earlier this month, the uMhlathuze municipality said it wanted to address the issue of truck congestion along the N2 and John Ross Highway as a matter of utmost concern as it had led to severe implications for the municipality’s operations and finances. It has called out two government ministries for the situation.
“For the past few years, the municipality has grappled with an alarming increase in truck traffic, primarily attributable to the transportation of goods and services to the port, the management of which falls squarely on the shoulders of the Department of Public Enterprises, which has in its portfolio Transnet, which controls the port through its National Ports Authority of SA division.
“The Department of Transport is responsible for policing the national and provincial roads,” the municipality posted on social media.
