WATCH | There goes our coal — hundreds of trucks queue to offload at Richards Bay port

Hundreds of trucks have been queuing on the N2 to offload coal at the Richards Bay harbour for export.

A video captured by a motorist shows an endless line of trucks tailbacking each other on the N2 south bound from Canefields to the John Ross Highway in the north of the province on Sunday.

According to a Transnet situation report seen by TimesLIVE, “despite the rain showers and challenges with internal road conditions, Transnet Port Authority (TSA) continues to receive all coal trucks”.

The report states trucks are being held off and released for entry to the harbour every few hours.

On Sunday, according to the report, just after 7:30am there were “approximately 312 coal trucks lined up on the N2 and tailbacking to Honey Farm.”

As of 10:30am, 170 trucks were given entry to the port.

Transnet didn't immediately respond to queries.

Road Traffic Inspectorate spokesperson Zinhle Mngomezulu said they were aware of high volumes of traffic throughout the province as people travelled home from their holidays and business was being carried out.

She did not want to comment on the truck situation specifically.

“Our mandate is to ensure free flow of traffic. If the traffic is flowing freely, there is not much we can do.”

Afzal Hamed of SA Long Distance Truckers blamed inefficiency at the port for the truck build-up.

“They offload too few trucks at a time, which causes a build-up of truck traffic leading to the port.

“About two weeks there was a 70km queue of trucks from inland to the port. It takes between two and three days to get to port with such a queue.

“Is anybody thinking about the drivers, who must rest, eat and use toilet facilities? They are stuck in these queues with nowhere to go.

“With so much coal leaving the country maybe this is why we are experiencing blackouts.”

TimesLIVE