The uMhlathuze Local Municipality at Richards Bay has decided to charge trucks transporting coal to the city’s port a fee of R30 per ton.
This is one of the measures the municipality has come up with to deal with truck congestion around the port, with trucks backed up for kilometres on end on the side of the N2 highway.
Another measure is to recruit traffic reservists to manage and monitor traffic in and around the port.
The trucks continue to cause severe blockages on the N2 and other roads in and around the Richards Bay port.
Thirty-three thousand trucks are estimated to enter the port every month, the largest coal export facility in Africa and handles 91 million tons annually.
The municipality says transporting coal via road has been eroding its infrastructure.
While trying to tackle trucks congestion, the municipality has introduced a tariff of R30 per truck.
“We did announce the issue of the tariffs which is R30 per ton so that we are able to address the issues of infrastructure,” says Mayor Xolani Ngwezi.
Ngwezi says the recruitment of 20 traffic reservists is in the pipeline to control traffic entering and exiting the port.
“Probably by the end of this month we would have finished with the recruitment of traffic reservists who will then focus on the management of trucks and traffic and monitor other areas.”
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“These are some of the measures that the city is actually putting to make sure that the economy is moving but also that the lives of our residents continue without being threatened by the trucks, as you know the behaviour of trucks.”
In November last year, the municipality announced that they are planning legal steps against Transnet because its overtime budget for traffic officers for the year were almost depleted within four months dealing with the congestion problem.
