Transnet's 'cunning scheme' is 'impossible'

In the last issue of FTW we

described Transnet’s plans

to persuade private-sector

business to invest in a new

mega rail container terminal

in Tambo Springs – on a

finance, build, operate and

eventually, transfer basis – as

a “cunning scheme”.

But, said Francois

Nortje of Francois Nortje

Properties, we should also

have added: a) “impossible”

and b) “contravening the

Infrastructure Development

Act, 2014”.

The reason behind this,

he told FTW, was that to

confirm his own observations

of the Tambo Springs plan,

he had held a three-hour

consultation with Fanie

Grobler SC (who specialises

in town planning and the

Act), Advocate Greg Porteous

and Tinie Bezuidenhout, a

town planning authority.

The result, he added, was:

“No building plans can be

approved by Ekurhuleni

where Transnet wants to

build this Tambo Springs

terminal. There is no proper

township approval on

portions of this land where

the PWV 13/15 roadway is

planned, designed, approved

and thoroughly protected

by the Infrastructure

Development Act.

“No township can be

approved on this land until

the land owner jumps

through 11 legal hoops – it

will take them five to seven

years – and the chances of

them succeeding is close

to zero.

“Transnet is f lying a kite

and just picking operators’

brains and bluffing,” Nortje

added. “They are going

to embarrass themselves

beyond belief.”

Expanding on this legal

summary, Nortje’s business

colleague at Francois

Nortje Properties, Erika

Bezuidenhout, told FTW:

“The Tambo Springs

proposal call documents –

what a shocker.”

She pointed out that the

planned container terminal

was slap bang in the middle

of the planned PWV 13/15 –

which, she added, Transnet

did not show on its proposal

call plans.

What this boils down to

is that – where Transnet

wants to build this terminal

– portions of it cannot be

zoned (and therefore building

plans approval cannot be

granted) for many years to

come, if ever.

And, if you look closely at

the parastatal’s plan, you will

see that Transnet shows a

current road to the left of the

railway line. But there is NO

road there at the moment.

“That,” said Bezuidenhout,

“is where we have it on good

authority that Transnet

wants to have the PWV 13/15

relocated. The problem with

this alignment is that it is

deep into a flood line, and

if it ever gets built there,

hundreds of houses on

the other side of the river

will constantly be flooded.

Therefore, approval for this

alignment may never be

granted.”

The bottom line is that

the township application

for Magagula Heights

(the name of the township

application) will have to

be amended. And this,

according to Bezuidenhout,

will take years.

Furthermore, if you look

at the Magagula Heights

township application, you

will see that the terminal

was planned to take 100

wagon trains.

But now, Bezuidenhout

added, Transnet is

advertising it as 50 wagons,

increasing to its future

planned 75 wagon trains.

“Surprisingly,” she said,

“in the Gauteng 25-year

Transport Plan and

Transnet’s own planning, it

states that Transnet intends

to increase its trains in the

future to 100 wagon trains.

“Suddenly the spec is lowered

to try and make Tambo

Springs work.”

Another of her concerns

is that companies are

going to spend hundreds of

thousands, if not millions,

of rands to put this proposal

call together – a possibly

massive wastage in putting

in a proposal, which needs

architects, engineers,

quantity surveyors,

management time and so on.

She also asked if Transnet

was likely to refund all the

proposal submitters, and

whether there was likely to

be anyone going to attend

the compulsory site meeting

on July 7.

FTW has e-mailed these

comments to Transnet for

a response, but no reply

was made before our print

deadline.