Port of Durban fully operational again after major disruptions due to floods: Gordhan

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan says operations at the Port of Durban are fully functional again after the floods caused major disruptions.

Operations ground to a halt last week for 36-hours as floods damaged railway lines and roads leading to the harbour, forcing a backlog of up to 9 000 containers waiting to offload from ships anchored off the coast and pick up goods at the harbour.

Gordhan has told the media that fuel supply to the rest of the country and to Durban and surrounding areas has also been fully restored. He says progress has been made to decrease the backlog until roads leading to the port are repaired.

“The port of Durban is functional. Its ships that are bringing in imports are being serviced and ships that are taking up exports including food items or fruit are also being serviced, as a result of the impact on the Bay Hill Road. We did have an issue where some 8000 to 9000 containers have accumulated either because staff could not reach the harbour area or trucks could not reach the harbour area. And within the next five to six days, those 8000 to 9000 containers will be cleared as well,” says Gordhan.

Operations resume at Durban harbour: