Heavy Vehicles using Kruger as Shortcut

[mouseinthehouse]

What's going on? Is someone making erroneous statements on Sanparks behalf? Does Mr. Sibiya actually know what is going on? Does someone make unilateral decisions without the approval of higher up managment? As too often in these sort of cases it is very hard to know what is Sanparks fact and what is Sanparks fiction or the third hand mangled information from some sort of Chinese Whispers.

[Richprins]

It's like the rest of .gov, mith! Carry on until you are caught out...then deny, then "investigate"...then blame...

[H. erectus]

MMnnnhhppphh, nail on the head, no sore thumb
for me!!!

[Richprins]

Does someone make unilateral decisions without the approval of higher up managment?

[mouseinthehouse]

Thanks RP. BTW - I do have a five month ban on the other side - confirmed yesterday. Well I won't be any more in the dark now than I was before I suppose.

[Richprins]

Pah! 5 months! Amateur!

[PennyinSA]

I am quoting a very interesting post as I cannot help wondering if this is not the start of something way bigger! Money must be changing hands at a giddy rate!

Here is a post from Richard Spoor "Major road blockages on the R40 between Bushbuckridge and Hazyview today. Road closed most of the day. This is the context.
The Phalaborwa mine has produced huge quantities of copper and phosphate for decades. A hugely profitable business.
The main waste product is magnetite (iron ore) and tens of millions of tons of the stuff have been piled up in huge mountains of the stuff.
Time goes by, the world turns and would you believe it, this shit suddenly becomes valuable. We can't smelt and add value to the stuff because, thanks to the hugely incompetent management of Eskom, our electricity has become prohibitively expensive and there is simply not enough electricity to power a new steel works.
China has plenty of cheap electricity, so it is now it has become profitable for the Chinese to buy our magnetite, shop it to China and smelt it there.
So Phalaborwa sells the entire stockpile to China.
Now they just need to move the stuff from Phalaborwa to Maputo harbour, and ship it to China.
The first challenge is to get the magnetite from Phalaborwa to Maputo. This can be done by road or by rail.
Rail would be a hell of a lot cheaper and more efficient. But its agreed that road is the way to go.
1000 interlink ore trucks a day for 15 years will do the job.
Transnet are simply not up to the job. The story that politically connected share holders in the trucking and fuel companies have made sure of that, is no more than a rumour. It is probably just incompetence.
It is so that the trucks destroy roads, kill people and contribute to global warming and the trade deficit, but on the other hand there are layers of parasitic municipal, law enforcement and customs officials who stand to benefit greatly from the truck traffic.
The people of Bushbuckridge have had enough and today's actions are part of a growing campaign to drive the trucks off the roads. Viva"

[Sprocky]

Just a bit more,...

Phalabora Mining Company has been bought over by, you guessed it, the Chinese. It is now known as Phalabora Copper. There is one truck departing the mine with a full load every 3 minutes. The road between Phalaborwa and Mica is now the worst in the country when it comes to potholes, helped along extremely well with the rain we have had of late. Each truck carries 30 tons of magnetite and there is apparently a 15 year supply in the area.

SANParks could make a killing if they allowed these vehicles to transit the park to Croc Bridge, way more than they would make by a couple of lousy moaning clients trying to view game and sleep in hotels. This is your chance SANParks, think of the income, that is what your main goal is, is it not? You could fill every camp from here to the south with truck drivers and the odd hooker that they pick up along the way.

This is your last chance Dr Mabunda, to make real money. Forget about a few small trucks laden with poles, we are talking huge volumes and you would be doing your under privileged communities in the area a huge favour by not having these trucks destroy their area, hell, what do we need parks for anyway? You could even implement an e-toll system at two or three crucial areas. You mentioned a while back that the reopening of Skukuza Airport will prevent people driving these dangerous roads en-route to the park, well, by diverting this magnetite shipment through the park you will be making the public roads safer for all to use. Jeez, you can only win if you plan this correctly!

[General Gump]

Sprocky, any chance of getting transport contracts before the road disintegrates ?

[Richprins]

Rail is the answer, and there was quite a long explanation about why this traditional method isn't used in the paper...it is why the Phala-Nelspruit railway was built in the first place!

The answer is there are indeed magnetite trains running daily...one either way, with more planned. The railway dumping facilities at Maputo can't handle more, according to the excuse, which seems strange as they can handle an exponentially increasing number of trucks? Be that as it may, there are all sorts of theories as to the kick-backs/deals concerned with the lucrative truck industry. Many of these trucks originally carried coal to our power stations...and we now have Eskom blackouts again for the first time in many years, with "wet coal" being blamed...

Makes one think!