The politicians won’t save us. We will save each other if we begin to engage and just try. (Photo by Gallo Images/Darren Stewart)
KwaZulu-Natal is this week counting the cost of the damage caused by heavy downpours.
Big businesses in the province have not been spared the ravages of the floods, and again face operational and supply-chain disruptions less than nine months after last July’s riots took their toll.
André Oberholzer, group head of corporate affairs at Sappi, said on Wednesday that the paper giant’s operations had been disrupted by road closures. Sappi’s Saiccor, Tugela and Stanger mills are all in KwaZulu-Natal.
“Because of the roads being disrupted, there has been a problem with moving trucks in and out and with the staff being able to move around. So there have been some general disruptions,” he said.
Sappi is assessing the damage and the extent of the constraints to the company’s supply chain, “then we can begin to get back to our normal operations, which could take a couple of days”.
The paper and pulp company has not suffered any damage to its infrastructure, Oberholzer said. “Obviously there has been flooding, but there the water will recede. But no, there has not been any structural, or any kind of serious damage.”
Sappi had to close its KwaZulu-Natal mills during the unrest that raged through the province in July last year. The company forecast that the closures would result in a R220-million hit to its fourth-quarter earnings.
Another KwaZulu-Natal giant, Tongaat Hulett, has not reported any structural damage as a result of the flooding. But the rains mean the company’s sugar mills cannot run because cane cannot be retrieved from the fields
Virginia Horsely, the company’s spokesperson, said: “Tongaat Hulett is in the process of assessing the impact of the storms and flooding on our operations but can confirm that there has been no significant damage to our sugar infrastructure. None of our people lost their lives due to this natural disaster.”
MTN reported on Tuesday that the floods have caused damage to more than 500 sites. Although repairs have begun, resulting in 28 MTN sites being fixed overnight, restoring all 500 “remains a challenging task” because it is difficult to get to sites that have been declared a disaster area, preventing repair work from continuing, the telecommunications company said on Wednesday.
“The situation on the ground is devastating and we are finding that as sites are being restored new sites are becoming affected,” said MTN’s executive for corporate affairs, Jacqui O’Sullivan.
MTN’s Ballito site is back up and running, she added. “Technicians attempted fibre repairs in Scottburgh and uMlazi last night but disaster management officials and the SAPS [South African Police Service] had to stop activities as a road and bridge in the affected areas became dangerously unstable. The teams are back there this morning for another attempt at the repairs.”
The floods have caused havoc in KwaZulu-Natal’s supply network. On Tuesday, the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) said torrential rains had resulted in the closure of access to the Durban Port road. In addition, the N3 highway is partially closed for upgrades and the floods threaten to exacerbate the situation.
“We appeal to all motorists and especially freight transport not to leave their destinations
to try to come to Durban Port. There is no access to the port. We are working with
emergency services to get the road network reopened,” said Ravi Ronny, Sanral’s eastern region design and construction manager.
On Tuesday, state port and rail company Transnet said its KwaZulu-Natal operations had been adversely affected.
“Heavy rains have damaged the road infrastructure leading into the Port of Durban, affecting access into the terminals,” Transnet spokesperson Ayanda Shezi noted, adding that operations at the Durban terminals were suspended on Monday night.
Transnet gradually resumed operations on Wednesday at 6am, according to Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan. Cargo that will be prioritised for evacuation from the port includes food, medical supplies and petroleum products, the minister said.
Shipping, which was suspended as a result of extensive debris, is expected to resume once safety has been established for marine craft and vessel navigation, Gordhan added.
He also noted that Transnet pipelines had not been damaged and would continue to supply fuel to the inland market.
Transnet Freight Rail, Gordhan added, is assessing the rail network in Durban and surrounding areas to determine the extent of damage before train services into and out of the port can resume. The North Coast, South Coast and mainline from Durban to Pietermaritzburg remain closed.
On Tuesday night, the provincial government announced in a statement that it had called for the declaration of a state of disaster following the storms, which have “wreaked untold havoc and unleashed massive damage to lives and infrastructure”.
At least 59 people have lost their lives, according to the statement.
This article has been amended to reflect Tongaat Hulett’s official response.
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