Heavy-duty trucks queuing along Bayhead road, awaiting access to the Durban Container Terminal, have caused chaos for motorists in the area.
Ayanda Somagaca, corporate affairs manager at Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), said the Port of Durban was addressing the congestion which had begun yesterday and had continued overnight and into the morning.
During a recent port visit, FTW Online was however told that delays outside Pier one and two had been a problem for months.
Recently, several drivers responsible for transporting chrome to “New Pier” (Pier two), complained that they were expected to wait from early morning into the evenings – if they were lucky – to offload.
Sometimes they were forced to overnight, FTW Online was told.
More importantly, there are the barest of facilities for the drivers, waiting in their cabins in excruciating temperatures and exposed to opportunists regarding the back-up queue as grist to their criminal mill.
Somagaca said TNPA had arranged the urgent deployment of the SAPS, Durban Metro Police and terminal operators to assist in alleviating the traffic backlog.
Somagaca further explained that TNPA employees had to be ferried to work this morning due to the massive traffic backlogs at the container terminals.
“TNPA has activated its Business Continuity Plan and will keep shipping clients and terminal operators regularly to help normalise operations,” said Samagaca.
Despite an electronic message circulated by transport companies calling for a boycott of Durban harbour, Somagaca said that Transnet had been working with industry bodies and had appealed to transport companies to engage through the appropriate channels to remain up to date on ongoing mitigation measures.
