In Pictures: Transnet Freight Rail’s 50-wagon Coal Derailment

SOUTHAfrica’s coal industry is absorbing the news of a coal freight derailment on May 12 near Vryheid involving 56 coalladen wagons and locomotives. An estimated 4,000 tons of coal was lost after a collision caused after staff failed to follow safety protocols.

Said an eyewitness: “50 loaded wagons started rolling out of a siding – brakes not engaged –onto the main line to Richards Bay into a loaded 100-wagon train pulled by four locos. Power [was] shut to stop the train, drivers [were] told to evacuate and wham: four locos on top of the crash, all near Broodsnyersplaas. Line closed without expected resumption date yet.”

An industry source says it’s unusual to have so many wagons derail. Sabotage cannot be ruled out.

According to another market source,Transnet Freight Rail has seen its tempo – the annualised volume of coal delivered to Richards Bay after the first five months of the year – fall below last year’s number of 50 million tons (Mt) – itself a 30-year low fter a two-year battle, a UK court in December 2022 granted the National ProsecutingAuthority’s (NPA’s) Investigating Directorate (ID) the right to extradite former contractor Michael Lomas (75) to face charges in the R745-million Eskom fraud and corruption case.

It suggests the collaboration between the Minerals Council andTransnet aimed at ironing out inefficiencies in bulk minerals delivery across chrome, coal, manganese and iron ore has far to go.

Six months later, Lomas is still in the UK pending a decision by the Secretary of State to whom the extradition judgment was referred. Lomas also has the right to seek permission to appeal against the Secretary of State’s decision.

According to legal affidavits, once extradited Lomas will be placed in a single cell in the B unit at the Medium “C” Johannesburg Correctional Centre (JCC). During the extradition hearing, the main point of contention was Lomas’ mental and physical health, as well as whether his extradition would be unjust or oppressive.

Lomas was arrested on 15April 2021 in Emsworth, London, and granted bail of £100,000 (R1.7million inApril 2021). He submitted an additional surety of £250,000 (about R4.3-million in April 2021).

As part of his bail conditions, the court ordered that his passport and SouthAfrican ID be held by police and that he not apply for or hold any international travel documents.According to ID spokesperson Sindisiwe Seboka, Lomas’arrest followed months of talks with UK authorities over the fraud and corruption case, in which Eskom allegedly paid R745million toTubular Construction Projects (TCP).This exposed the state-owned entity to R1.4-billion in escalation costs as set out in the contract.

Lomas, ex-Eskom senior manager France Hlakudi, former Group Capital division executiveAbram Masango, businessperson Maphoko Kgomoeswana andTBC CEOTonyTrindade are all accused of fraud, corruption and money laundering in connection with a R745-million contract at Eskom’s Kusile Power Station in Mpumalanga between 2014 and 2017.

In December 2019, Scorpio’s Pieter-Louis Myburgh reported the charges partly stem from alleged kickbacks of more than R30million thatTrindade and the company’s former chairperson, Lomas, funnelled to Hlakudi and Masango. Scorpio also revealed thatTubular, along with fellow Kusile contractors Stefanutti Stocks, Esor Construction and Tenova Mining and Minerals, had paid R75-million to Babinatlou Business Services. It is alleged that this Polokwane-based company’s account was almost exclusively used as an apparent slush fund to illicitly enrich Hlakudi and some of his former Kusile colleagues.

The indictment alleges how Masango and Hlakudi fraudulently pushed forTCPto be awarded a R745-million contract, signed in April 2016, to build air-cooled condensers at Kusile. Masango and Hlakudi both had oversight of contracts in the Kusile build.

In September 2021 the Pretoria High Court issued a provisional restraint order of R1.4-billion against Hlakudi, Kgomoeswana andTrindade and his wife, freezing their assets and bank accounts.The corruption at Kusile Power Station was further amplified when theAsset Forfeiture Unit laid bare an elaborate scheme used by contractors linked to the Kusile Power Station to hide kickbacks linked to more than R500-million in contracts.

The SouthAfrican authorities want Lomas back in the country to face allegations that he offered bribes and paid a number of people and companies betweenApril 2015 andApril 2017 to induce them to perform an improper function, namely to influence a company to terminate a contract with one company,Alstom, in favour of concluding one with another company,TCP, to which the requested person was connected.

Lomas is charged with 41 counts of corruption for offering a benefit, as detailed in the draft indictment attached to the affidavit in support of the extradition request.

Medical evidence

Several doctors, psychiatrists and consultant forensic psychiatrists gave evidence on the mental and physical state of Lamos.The various medical submissions submitted stated:

Lomas had a recurrent depressive disorder

His diagnosis of depression and anxiety, the court heard, remains and is robust. It is still of at least moderate severity

He feels hopeless. He has associated biological symptoms of depression, which include impaired sleep, early morning waking, lack of energy and motivation, thoughts of death and suicide.

He is fearful of incarceration, being hurt by inmates and that the SouthAfrican authorities cannot protect him.

Most concerning is Lomas’longstanding condition, diverticulitis, first diagnosed in 1985. He has been admitted to hospital multiple times since then and he remains under monitoring. Diverticulitis is an inflammation in the bowels; it makes the bowel more fragile and prone to perforation. It can lead to peritonitis, which can be fatal. Lomas has prostate cancer

Prison safety

Portuguese attorney Vania Costa Ramos, an expert on prison conditions and a member of the European Committee for the Prevention ofTorture and Inhuman or DegradingTreatment or Punishment (CPT) since 2016, also gave evidence. She has inspected prisons in England, Hungary, France, Spain, Germany,Austria, Romania and Lithuania and psychiatric hospitals in Montenegro and Romania. Costa Ramos in her evidence in chief adopted the report of Dr Nathaniel Wright.

“They accept that Johannesburg Medium C offers better conditions than the MediumAand B prisons on the same site, but it is an overcrowded prison … cramped and unhygienic accommodation, lack of privacy, reduced out-of-cell activities, insufficient staffing, inadequate health provision and violence between prisoners and between prisoners and staff.

“The type of prisons and level of violence would require Lomas to be placed in a single cell to protect him from inter-prisoner violence.The solution is to place him in the highest secure unit available in the prison,” the judgment reads.

‘Preferential’treatment for Lomas SouthAfrican authorities provided a large number of documents of additional information in this case, which primarily focused on prison conditions and healthcare treatment available to the requested person in the event of his extradition, to convey the point that prison conditions will be safe and healthy for Lomas.

SouthAfrican authorities guarantee that:

Lomas will be accommodated at Johannesburg Medium “C” Correctional Centre in B unit in a single cell – pre-trial and postconviction — with a single bed, toilet, tap with hot and cold water, electricity, adequate ventilation, heating, natural light and will be very tidy and clean.

There are shower facilities, which are in good condition as well as a courtyard for gym purposes. He will be entitled to at least one hour of exercise a day and he will exercise with other prisoners.

Primary healthcare is available, with qualified nurses, a medical doctor and a dentist at Johannesburg Correctional Centre

The local hospital, Chris Hani BaragwanathAcademic Hospital, is 4km from JCC.

He will be assessed by a psychiatrist and suitable treatment will be provided

The medication he is prescribed is available in the prison pharmacy

The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) claims “gangsterism” is effectively managed, there is an anti-gang strategy and personnel are appropriately trained to deal with gangs.

In addition, retired Constitutional Court Judge Edwin Cameron, who heads the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS) and inspected Johannesburg Medium Aand C also provided a report to the Westminster Court.

Judge Cameron’s report detailed the available healthcare facilities, material circumstances and the regime, inter-prisoner violence and monitoring. Cameron concluded that the material conditions in the cell were adequate, and JICS would be able to maintain proper and adequate oversight over Lomas.

Findings

The court found that as Lomas currently lives alone and can care for himself on a daily basis:

“In the event of his extradition to SouthAfrica he would require some adaptations to the physical environment, including the installation of grab bars in the shower for his use.The South African authorities have said that they will make those changes. I accept that evidence.

“He is fit to plead and stand trial in SouthAfrica and to instruct his lawyers. He may require some adaptations to the trial process to enable him to effectively participate such as more regular breaks,” the judgment reads. - DM

“Basically nothing” is happening in Warrenton to solve the water crisis of more than three months in this Northern Cape town right next to the Vaal River.

This was the biggest realisation to which Marie Sukers,ACDP MPin the NationalAssembly, came across during her unannounced oversight visit to the town on Wednesday, 24 May

Sukers was approached by community members for assistance. Her visit to the water treatment plant, as well as to the construction work of an “urgent and speedy solution” to temporarily provide water to residents, caught many councillors of the Magareng Municipality off guard and inflamed tempers.

The nearly 25 000 residents of Warrenton residential areas, Warrenvale, and Ikhutseng, have already been without running water since the end of February after approximately 30 m of the main water supply pipe in the Vaal River was damaged during the flood.

Since then, apparently more than R5,5 million has already been spent to restore the water supply “temporarily”, as well as “permanently and more sustainably”.This money was granted by Cogsta.

The temporary plan, according to correspondence from the municipality, would have been completed in early May. It is still not completed, and residents have doubts about the sustainability of the permanent plan and whether it will be completed at all within the promised four months.

With the outbreak of cholera in among others Parys in the Free State, along which the Vaal River also flows, residents are also concerned about the purity and quality of the water that is sporadically supplied to them by water tankers.The water is apparently not properly filtered at the water treatment plant.

“These processes have now been bypassed. I would reckon we only get about 30% purified water,” says a community leader

‘They kill themselves buying water’

To wait for the water tankers is something that residents know very well by now. Sometimes they have to wait up to three weeks before one arrives in their neighbourhood while certain residents are prioritised. In addition, they often have to hear that water tankers are “broken”.

“It is all about who is who, and who works where,” a resident of Ikhutseng says, continuing by saying that family members and friends of municipal officials get first priority with water supply

“We have repeatedly brought this to the attention of the mayor and council members, but they just drag their feet,” he says.

“I am offended by the municipality. Here are so many elderly and disabled people who cannot fetch water They kill themselves buying water.”

Aresident of Warrenvale

An elderly resident says she barely has R5 extra to buy water, and when she does have a few rand extra, she has to pay others on top of that to buy water on her behalf since she cannot carry the container herself.And R5 worth of water does not get you far

Residents of Warrenvale and Ikhutseng are therefore forced to cross the busy N12 to either the nearest borehole or the Vaal River. Due to the vastness of the neighbourhoods, some of them have to walk several kilometer on foot.

“When you go to fetch water from the river, you have to take the little ones with,” says a mother of toddlers.Afew weeks ago, a grandmother and her grandchild were hit by a vehicle on the N12 when they were on their way to fetch water

Those who do have transport are allowed to fetch water from the water treatment plants on the other side of town. For that, they have to cross the N12 and the N18, and also drive a bad stretch of dirt road.

Another resident says she and her son both have skin cancer and must avoid the sun on doctor’s orders. However, they often have to walk long distances in the sun to get water. Her husband is paralysed in one arm and cannot help to carry the water containers.

Another resident says her children are getting stomach problems from the water brought by the water tankers, and that her skin is starting to peel from it. Residents agree that the water sometimes smells and tastes strongly of household disinfectant.

“Sometimes the people who wait so long for water are appeased with food parcels. Just like they will be appeased with food parcels andT-shirts before next year’s election,” says a resident of Ikhutseng. He says the flood has brought a new water crisis to Warrenton, but before that the water supply situation in the town was also dire.

‘Solutions’still not completed “Where are all the millions that were planted here,” Sukers asked during her overview visit on Wednesday, adding that continues from pg 15 according to what she heard, the Magareng Municipality has requested more money

The contractor who was appointed for the “urgent and speedy” repair of the temporary plan for water supply apparently withdrew last week due to nonpayment.The municipality did not want to confirm or deny this.

According to a letter from the municipality, this contractor was instructed on 26April to start with the temporary solution. Pipes for this project would be delivered within seven days from the date and then it would take another “three to five days to put into operation”, it was written.

The pipes were indeed delivered, but apart from one one pipe lain diagonally next to the river, another one in the river, and a cable or two along the river, no contractor was on site by late morning and no other signs of work was visible.

The work on the “permanent and more sustainable solution” for water supply also seems to be at a standstill.Apart from support clamps attached to the N18 Magrieta Prinsloo bridge, nothing seems to have happened here since early May The support clamps are attached to the lowwater bridge to hold the new main water supply pipe from the water plant to town.

The old fiberglass pipe that was damaged in the February flood spans the river

However, community leaders are of the opinion that the pipe is being installed on the wrong side of the bridge, saying that with the next flood, stones and tree trunks will damage it.The tree trunks and branches that have been pressing against the low-water bridge since the flood, on the side where the new pipe is to be attached, confirm their concern.

‘Nothing happens here’

When Sukers, the community leaders, and media arrived at the water treatment plant, on which almost R86 million has apparently been spent since 2020, she was violently prevented entry by a man –believed to be a security guard. Sukers’husband, Johnathin, who is theACDPleader in the Northern Cape, was also threatened by the person.

Although Sukers identified herself more than once, and explained that as an MPshe may make unannounced oversight visits, access was still refused. More persons, presumably connected to a contractor company, showed up.

After an urgent visit to the offices of the Magareng Municipality and a conversation withThapelo Jacobs of the municipality, access was finally granted.The visiting group was barely through the gate when they were stopped again for not wearing safety helmets.

Sukers asked the persons on site to provide safety helmets “since they are the contractors”, which they could not provide.Access was subsequently granted “at your own risk”.

Here Sukers realised that apart from the people guarding the closed gate, and about three who were busy filling a water tanker, no construction activities were taking place on the premises.

Acontract was apparently granted in 2020 for the construction of a new water treatment plant on the site of the old one.

The completion date for this was 30 June 2021.

It is still not finished. Weeds growing through sun-bleached equipment are the silent witness that it will not be finished anytime soon.

“Money has been spent here, but nothing happens.That is why they refused us entry

“Warrenton is SouthAfrica at micro-level – what we are experiencing is happening in the majority of municipalities.The municipalities are dysfunctional and when something like a flood happens, it becomes a humanitarian crisis. Voters vote for people that no boss will even hire." -

Marie Sukers

“Here is a leadership problem, and local government deals with bread and butter issues. No access to water is a serious violation of human rights.

“The problem is that we play politics with basic human rights.

“This is a wake-up call. If we do not get the system fixed now, there will be an implosion in the country,” says Sukers.

Meanwhile, according to posts on the Facebook page of the Magareng Municipality, councilors are busy with “public consultative meetings throughout its six wards”.

On this, a resident of Ikhutseng writes in comments: “I see the public consultations and I think right now all the focus, time and energy will be better served on the restoration of water

All the masses want right now is water in their taps. Everything else and all the consultations are not of any significance.”

As a community leader from Warrenvale says: “We do not only want water, we want better.”