By Road or by Rail ….

28 Sep 2016

By Road or by Rail ….

by Marlaine Andersen | posted in: Construction Chat, General, Uncategorized | 0

By Road or by Rail

According to Wikipedia : “Transnet Freight Rail is a South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet. It was part of the South African Railways and Harbours Administration, a state-controlled organisation that employed hundreds of thousands of people for decades from the first half of the 20th century.”

Transnet Freight Rail is a freight logistics and passenger transport railway. It is the largest freight hauler in Africa.

The company comprises several businesses:
GFB Commercial (General Freight Business) – Transnet’s largest division; handles over 50% of its freight;
Coal Line, serving coal exporters on the Mpumalanga – Richards Bay line; second largest coal railway in the world, delivering 62 million tonnes of coal (also known as “Black Gold”) in the year ending 31 March 2010;
Ore Export Line – dedicated to iron ore transport on the Sishen to Saldanha line;
Luxrail – The operation of the Blue Train, which is designed as a five-star hotel on wheels.

After doing some in-depth research on this subject (thanks Google!) as why transporting of goods is currently preferred by road over rail. I managed to source the following information :

Offering greater flexibility, speed and adaptability than the alternative of rail, transporting goods between cities by road has long been the chosen mode for most industries. However, the impact of heavy vehicles on the roads is considerable and the cost of maintenance and upgrades is increasing as traffic demands grow. Whilst work on the national road network may be keeping up with the demand, not so on the provincial roads.

The benefits of shifting freight from road to rail would have other transport-related spin-offs such as reduced road congestion and accidents, and less maintenance on road surfaces. Costs, particularly for movers of bulk commodities, would also drop. Rail transport also is regarded as three to four times more efficient than road.
But whether South Africa’s rail system will cope with increased freight demand is questionable. If there was a reliable, safe, efficient, and cost-effective rail service that could meet the need of customers then goods would definitely travel by rail. But there isn’t, so that is why 80% of goods are currently transported by road for the efficiency, cost, reliability, tracking and door-to-door service.

Improving the country’s 20 247 km rail network is now a top government priority and rail volumes are expected to grow to about 350 million tonnes by 2020.
According to Transnet’s website: “ Expanding the country’s infrastructure by successfully implementing the Market Demand Strategy (MDS) will see Transnet’s revenue almost triple from R46 billion to R128 billion over the next seven years.” Transnet’s MDS is a fine-tuned strategy to expand and modernise the country’s ports, rail and pipeline infrastructure with a view to achieve a significant increase in freight volumes, particularly in commodities such as Iron Ore, Coal and Manganese over a period of seven years to promote economic growth in South Africa.

Through investment, Transnet Freight Rail will be able to optimise it’s capital portfolio, build a world-class capital execution function and leverage capital procurement and localisation. In accordance with the strategy, the company has committed itself to railing more than 350.3 million tons of cargo a year by 2018 / 2019, the financial year when the MDS will reach its maturity.

Bearing that in mind, If we do a comparison of Fleet Management tenders on our database, compared with Transnet tenders :
Currently on our database we have 11 live tenders for Fleet Management versus 40 live tenders for Transnet.

Rail vs Road…what would your choice be?

References:
http://mg.co.za/article/2015-07-17-investment-still-needed-in-transport-infrastructure
http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/transport/2015/01/27/road-is-still-king-of-freight
http://www.transnetfreightrail-tfr.net/MDS/Pages/Strategy.aspx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transnet_Freight_Rail

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About Marlaine Andersen

Leads 2 Business Advertising Co-ordinator and Digital Designer

21 Sep 2016

On time, Online with Transnet

by Sasha Anderson | posted in: Construction Chat, Frequently Asked Questions, General, Uncategorized | 0

On time, Online with Transnet

These days it’s the norm to find most businesses online. I don’t know about you but if I’m looking for company info in any form should it be trading hours, contact info, services they offer or any news regarding that company, I head straight to Google. The easier it is to find the company website the better and if it contains all the relevant info I need it definitely goes a long way toward a first impression. Suffice to say a company’s online presence not only saves you time but in the end money too and that is no different when it comes to business, the well known phrase ‘time is money’ comes to mind.

Some of the Key reasons to have your business online are:

Anyone can ‘visit’ your business

Portrays your Company’s Image

Offers Customer Support

Availability of information

Streamlining

24 hour access

Relatively low start-up costs

Communication

Going Global

If you have ever ventured over to Transnet’s website you will notice there is a huge amount of information provided from the usual contact information to investor relation reports and a whole lot of tender related info. The website looks organised and seems to have all the relevant details one might need. Now I must confess that I am not very familiar with Transnet’s website as we don’t deal with the website much in my department. Thus I looked outside for review/comment from the Tenders Department who regularly peruse the website. According to my sources in our Tenders Department they haven’t had any issues regarding the website and check it as frequently as possible. Additionally Transnet also publishes their tenders on CIDB and eTenders timeously which makes it easier for interested parties to obtain the relevant information they seek.

At L2B we research all the relevant websites and divisions within Transnet that publish tenders and publish them on our site daily for easy access and updates for our subscribers.

Do you feel that Transnet meets the above aspects of an online business and does it assist you with being on time? Do you have any feedback or views you would like to add regarding Transnet’s online presence? Contact us in the comment section below.

Interested in Transnet Tenders and want an easy way to find them online, in one place, daily? Contact me on SashaA@l2b.co.za

Sources:

http://www.transnet.net/AboutUs/Overview.aspx

http://www.dbwebdoctor.com/article_why_companies_need_a_website.asp

About Sasha Anderson

Millennial Mom + wife living the hash-tag life. Reach out if you want to talk: L2B, social media, construction, technology, marriage, parenting, popular culture and travel. Remember: If You Fail - Fail Forward

14 Sep 2016

Types of Tenders offered by Transnet

by Nadine Vermeulen | posted in: Construction Chat, Construction Events, General, Uncategorized | 3

Well, well, well, just look at this, my second blog 🙂 (Pat on the back for me). I am excited and nervous at the same time, but let me take a deep breath…relax…and do this. This month I will be chatting about the types of Tenders that are offered by Transnet. OK, this can’t be that bad a topic, can it? I mean, it’s just Transnet right? This will be a quick one, phew, definitely relaxed now, easy peasy lemon squeezy. With my fingers doing the walking I search for the Tenders offered by Transnet on our awesome website, and low and behold, there they are…wait…what!? This can’t be right, looking at the screen with wide eyes and slowly but surely starting to hyperventilate, I begin to realize that this is not going to be as easy as I thought. Upon my lovely search I discovered that we have housed a whopping number of 13 030 Tender Notices for Transnet so far. Breathe…Breathe….Breathe…ok, I am running for the hills! Goodbye….

Ok ok ok, I am back from Bora Bora with a new mindset about this blog, I can do this. Where were we? O yes, that’s right, 13 030 Tender Notices are housed by L2B to date, but what can you expect from the largest and most crucial part of the freight logistics chain that delivers goods to each and every South African through its pipelines and both to and from its ports? Moving cargo onto ships for export while it unloads goods from overseas. So, lets dig a little deeper shall we? Transnet operates an integrated freight transport, formed around a core of five, yes five, operating divisions that complement each other (which we will look at shortly). These are supported by a number of company-wide specialist functions such as Transnet Projects which underpin the group as a whole.

Transnet is made up of the following operating divisions:

Transnet Freight Rail (formerly Spoornet – the freight rail division)
Transnet Rail Engineering (formerly Transwerk – the rolling stock maintenance business)
Transnet National Ports Authority (formerly the NPA – fulfills the landlord function for South Africa’s port system)
Transnet Port Terminals (formerly SAPO – managing port and cargo terminal operations in the nation’s leading ports), and
Transnet Pipelines (formerly Petronet – the fuel and gas pipeline business, pumps and manages the storage of petroleum and gas products through its network of high-pressure, long distance pipelines)

Here are just a few of the Tenders that Transnet offers:

With a variety of Facilities Management, Electrical & Instrument, Plant & Machinery, Mechanical, Materials & Supplies, Infrastructure, Security & Fire, IT & Telecom and plenty more, you can see that Transnet offers a tender for each and everyone, which is only a click away on our website 🙂 www.l2b.co.za

You can contact me on 087 150 1465 or by email nadinev@l2b.co.za #justsaying 😉

Phew, now that wasn’t so hard, was it? So what are you waiting for, get clicking and have a look at those tenders 🙂

About Nadine Vermeulen

I started working at Leads 2 Business in October 2014 in the Leads 2 Quotes Department. I managed all the Daily Tender Bill Requests and followed up on BoQ's for our Daily Tender Subscribers. In 2017, I was promoted to L2Q Assistant and now work with Bill of Quantities for Contractors. 🙂

26 Aug 2015

What is the PRASA Saga all about?

by Sasha Anderson | posted in: General | 4

The PRASA Saga – What is it really about?

A little background:

The PRASA (The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa) Saga revolves around an Upgrade Project that was out outsourced by PRASA to Swifambo Rail Leasing which in turn awarded the contract to Vossloh España for R3.5 billion.

The height of the Afro 4000 Locomotives purchased for the Shosholoza Meyl long-distance passenger service in relation to the height of the overhead power lines has come into question. The Initial order height for the locomotives was 4.262m high and the current height is 4.1m. All current locomotives in use have a maximum height of 3.965m. The normal accepted safe distance between a locomotive roof and electrical cables is at least 150mm (ie. the cables should be at least 4.5 metres above the rail tracks). Although the power lines are supposed to be no lower than 4.5m there are many places in the country where, because of poor maintenance, overhead wires are much lower. In order to provide safe travel conditions for the new locomotives overhead power lines will have to be raised, the costs of which are unclear at this point.

A brief Timeline:

13 October 2013 – The DA requests that the Auditor-General, Terrence Nombembe, investigate the PRASA R3.5 billion locomotives deal

February 2014 – A report from PRASA in February 2014 points out four places where overhead lines are as low as 4.22m.

January 2015 – One of the four batches of locomotives procured by PRASA from Spanish manufacturer Vossloh España arrive in Table Bay Harbour.

March 2015 – Transnet Freight Rail General Manager, Caesar Mtetwa wrote to to PRASA’s Chief Engineer, Dr Daniel Mtimkulu, stating the locomotives exceeded the permitted height limit for Transnet’s rail system.

10 May 2015 – ‘Rapport’ publishes an article regarding issues surrounding the Locomotive Tender

5 July 2015 – ‘Rapport’ publishes an article stating the Locomotives procured are “too high for the long distance routes they were intended for”.

6 July 2015 – Lucky Montana, the CEO of PRASA speaks at a media briefing regarding the “grossly misleading” article published in Rapport.

12 July 2015 – An article published in the ‘Rapport’ with documents attached highlight the following:

* PRASA sent a message to Spain on 5 November 2013 to ask whether the locomotives, which had been ordered eight months previously, could be lowered.

* PRASA wanted the locomotives heights lowered to 3 965mm.

* But Vossloh España said in a letter, which Rapport obtained, that the PRASA request was not possible, “Although it is not possible to reduce Euro 4000 locomotives’ height below 4 140mm … it is understood that with actual height and with the information we manage, the locomotives should be acceptable for operations on South African tracks,” sent in late 2013.

* 1 week later PRASA paid R468m for the first locomotives.

16 July 2015 – PRASA Board resolves that CEO of PRASA, Lucky Montana will not be required to complete his notice period (1 June to 31 November 2015) due to him not complying to the conditions of serving out his notice.

17 July 2015 – PRASA Executive Manager for Engineering, Daniel Mthimkhulu, is suspended as a result of an inquiry revealing he lacked the necessary qualifications.

17 July 2015 – The Public Protector’s office confirms it has concluded an investigation into PRASA and CEO Lucky Montana after a union requested a probe in 2012 into allegations of maladministration relating to financial mismanagement and tender irregularities and will be “ready to release it on 23 July”.

23 July 2015 – The Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela postpones the release of her report. According to City Press, staff at PRASA had approached Madonsela requesting to make representations against Ex CEO Montana now that he was not at work. “They feared they would lose their jobs, but now they feel at ease and want to make submissions,” said a government official.

23 July 2015 – PRASA Chairman, Dr Popo Molefe reports that he has received death threats which have been reported to the Police who are investigating ‘a case of conspiracy to commit murder’.

27 July 2015 – PRASA Executive Manager for Engineering, Daniel Mthimkhulu resigns. PRASA is to continue with its criminal case against Mr Mthimkulu.

Is all this controversy really over a 400mm clearance between a locomotive and the contact wires or is it something more? Is it about R3.5 Billion which has been spent on locomotives which may not be able to operate on our railways? Is it about Politics? Is it about Corruption? Is it about Tender Irregularities? Is it about a lack of leadership?

In my opinion it is the latter; a lack of leadership. Let’s consider:

In essence what is leadership? The following adjectives come to mind: Accountable, Alert, Approachable, Authentic, Aware, Communicative, Credible, Customer-focused, Decisive, Dedicated, Ethical, Knowledgeable, Moral, Motivating, Pro-active, Responsible, Transparent, Trustworthy and Vigilant.

Does this describe those in leadership roles in the PRASA Saga?

In order for any organisation to succeed and prosper, it is critical that the right leadership is in place. I think Dwight D. Eisenhower said it best, “The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.”

What are your thoughts? Please leave a comment.

Sources:

http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/transport/2015/07/07/prasa-ceo-says-detractors-want-to-tarnish-him-in-train-saga

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Newsmaker-Popo-Molefe-vows-to-stay-put-at-Prasa-20150726

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Prasa-war-heats-up-20150718

http://www.netwerk24.com/nuus/2015-07-05-r600-m-optelfout

http://www.biznisafrica.co.za/prasa-dismisses-zar600-million-train-saga/

http://www.iol.co.za/the-star/casualties-symbolic-of-derailed-prasa-1.1889710#.VbX2EvmqpHw

http://www.politicsweb.co.za/party/something-fishy-about-prasas-r35bn-locomotives-dea

http://ewn.co.za/2015/07/17/Prasas-engineering-executive-suspended

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Prasa-Transnet-had-concerns-over-locomotive-height-documents-20150712

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/prasa-leadership-failure-case-study-vusi-thembekwayo

About Sasha Anderson

19 Aug 2015

South African Harbours and Ports

by Claire Donaldson | posted in: Construction Chat, General | 0

According to a Port Development Plan by Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), dated September 2014, various developments have been listed for the Ports currently under the TNPA’s care and control, namely Western Ports: Saldanha Bay, Cape Town and Mossel Bay; Central Ports: Port Elizabeth, Ngqura and East London and Eastern Ports: Durban, New Durban Dig-Out Port and Richards Bay. Below is a brief breakdown of some of the activity at South African’s various Ports.

Western Ports:

Port of Saldaha Bay – In 2013 with the aim in increasing the iron ore export from the Port of Saldanha Bay, Transnet proposed a third tippler and associated infrastructure, for which Gibb (Pty) Ltd were appointed as the Independent Environmental Assessment Practitioners. The tender for the Construction of Vault, Tunnel, Buildings and Ancillaries for Transnet Tippler 3 Project at the Port of Saldanha was advertised at the end of July 2015 (DTA 525896 ) and is expected to close on 08 September 2015.

Port of Cape Town – The Request for Proposal for the New Cruise Terminal Facility at the Port of Cape Town was advertised in December 2014 (DTA 487279), and in June 2015 the announcement by Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) was made of the preferred bidder being V & A Waterfront (Pty) Ltd. According to the media statement, the V & A Waterfront will invest just under R179 million to finance, design and develop the terminal and the agreement includes the operation, maintenance and transfer of ownership of the facility back to TNPA after a period of 20 years. Currently, V & A Waterfront are in negotiations to sign the lease, and it’s expected that any development will only commence after May 2016.

Port of Mossel Bay – The most recent tender concerning construction in the Port of Mossel Bay is the Request for Proposal for Extension and Construction of the Administrative Building in the Port of Mossel Bay (DTA 500781) which was advertised in March this year. So far no award has been made.

Central Ports:

Port of Port Elizabeth – TNPA expectes to relocate the Manganese Ore Terminal and the Tank Fam to the Port of Ngqura. TNPA expects to start shipping manganese ore out of Ngqura in 2019 and the relocation should happen before this. As of December 2014, it could take these four years before the Manganese Terminal at the Port of Ngqura is completed therefore ending the relocation from the Port of Port Elizabeth. Apparently the plan is to convert the Manganese Terminal and tank farm land into a vehicle terminal, the timeframe for the decommisioning and rehabilitation of tank and manganese land is 2018 to 2021. As of 14 August 2015, Transnet Port Terminals was issued with a permanent operating license for operating the manganese terminal at the Port of Ngqura.

Port of Ngqura – Manganese Export Expansion Project at the Port of Nguqura involves the upgrade and expansion of the rail network, new bulk minerals export terminal and the reinstatement of existing berths. Infrastructure will comprise new roads, infrastructure services and buildings as well as new equipment: stackers, reclaimers, surge bins and an unloading system (tippler), a conveyor system linking the stockyard with existing berths and these berths will be equipped with twin shiploaders. The tenders for the Port of Ngqura Manganese Export Terminal (DTA 444247) as well as Phase 2 of the Rail project (DTA 444237) were advertised April 2014. The tender for the Design, Supply, Installation and Commissioning of 2 Shiploaders for the Ngqura Manganese Export has been advertised in August 2015 (DTA 527882) and ix expected to close on 22 September 2015. The tender for Design, Supply, Installation and Commissioning of a Rotary Dual Wagon Tippler Facility including Supply and Installation of Apron Feeders, Dust Extraction and Suppression Systems, for the Ngqura Manganese Export Terminal is also out (DTA 527873) and also closes on 22 September 2015. Port of East London – In July 2014, it was announced that the Coal terminal at the Port of East London would move to the new Port of Ngqura and be operational in approximately five year’s time. Future development that might be expected is the extention to the Port of East London to include an expanded container terminal, refurbish liquid bulk facilities and boat building.

Eastern Ports:

Port of Richards Bay – With regards to the Port of Richards Bay, plans include the establishment of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility.

Port of Durban – The Request for Proposal for the Design, Development, Financing, Construction, Operation and Maintenance and Transfer of the New Cruise Terminal Facilities at the Port of Durban was initially advertised in June 2013 (DTA 382061). No award was made and it was advertised again in July 2015 (DTA 524504) The RFP is expected to close on 02 October 2015.

Durban Dig-Out Port (DDOP) – “From 2019 to 2042, Transnet will embark on its medium-term projects, which includes the new dig-out port. The new harbour will be built at Durban’s old International Airport and will require the construction of: a breakwater and entrance channel; a 16 berth container basin and terminals; and a new automotive terminal, among other infrastructure”. So far the driver for the DDOP remains the same, demand will exceed capacity at the existing Port of Durban by ±2025. Although nothing has advanced beyond the planning stage, the current view is that the first phase should be operational by 2025. (PPA 10166)

Sources

http://www.transnetnationalportsauthority.net/Corporate%20Affairs/Press%20Releases/2015-07-01%20-%20Transnet%20Awards%20Bid%20for%20Cape%20Town%20Cruise%20Terminal.pdf

http://www.transnet.net/BusinessWithUs/LTPF%202012/1.LTPF%202014_Chapter%2004__Ports_Final%20Proof_Sept%202014.pdf

http://projects.gibb.co.za/Portals/3/Appendix%20G%20Tippler%203%20draft%20Environmental%20Management%20Programme.pdfawards-bid-for-cape-town-terminal

Proposed third tippler for the Port of Saldanha. Transnet Saldanha Bay

http://www.transnetportterminals.net/Media/Publications%20Paper%20and%20Presentation/TPT%20Saldanha.pdf

http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/port-of-ngqura-manganese-export-expansion-project-south-africa-2015-04-03http://www.nmbbusinesschamber.co.za/blog/posts/another-major-step-in-transnet-s-manganese-expansion

http://www.iol.co.za/business/news/transnet-slows-ore-terminal-relocation-1.1687158

http://www.heraldlive.co.za/tank-farm-removal-delayed/

http://m.news24.com/fin24/Economy/Cabinet-grants-Transnet-license-for-manganese-terminal-20150814

http://www.dispatchlive.co.za/business-2/focused-strategy-for-el-port-after-big-loss/

http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/morwe-outlines-tnpas-port-development-plans-2014-09-02

http://www.saoga.org.za/information-hub/port-handbook/future-plans

http://www.rsagency.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Develop-in-SA-Sep14.pdf

Transnet re-assesses dig-out dates

About Claire Donaldson

I started working at Leads 2 Business in February 2005, and have served as Head of Department of Daily Tenders from 2007 until the present. I oversee both the Daily Tenders South Africa and Africa Departments.