The chaos of the trucking situation in Richards Bay has become so bad that even Eskom cannot service National Key Points (NKPs) because of ore trucks queueing for kilometres to enter the port
According to social media monitoring the crisis, the power utility has reported that on occasion it cannot effect much-needed repairs to KNPs because of the truck buildup.
Eskom last week reported this to be the case at the Industrial Emergency Forum, a body set up to alleviate the congestion.
It has been emphasised in the meantime that key points are designated as such as they are vital to the functioning of the country’s law and order and economic infrastructure, amongst others.
The Richards Bay problem has arisen from the compromised dedicated coal line from the southern Mpumalanga coal basin to the privately owned Richards Bay Coal Terminal.
Rail inadequacies for reasons of bad maintenance, sabotage, theft and a shortage of locomotives amongst others have driven coal extraction companies to resort to road transport to deliver export coal to Richards Bay, and the roads and suburbs are paying a high price.
