APA-Johannesburg (South Africa) South Africa’s railroad traffic from Johannesburg to the Indian Ocean port of Durban has been reduced to just 25 percent of its capacity due to power cable theft on the busy line, a senior official said on Wednesday.
Transnet manager for the Johannesburg-Durban railway corridor Rudzani Ligege said rail traffic from South African’s economic hub to Africa’s biggest container port “has virtually ground to a halt.”
“We never thought that we would come to a point where security would be the biggest risk. It’s a nightmare,” he said.
Vandalism on the container corridor has added to the woes for Transnet, which is already struggling with crime and shortage of locomotive spare parts on its network that moves coal.
The 740-km rail line is key to moving supplies in Africa’s most industrialised economy.
NM/jn/APA