Sishen to Saldanha. Transnet extends iron line shutdown

Transnet Freight Rail (TFR), Transnet's largest division by revenue, said on Monday that it has delayed the reopening of the export iron ore line, which was shut down after "extensive damage" following a derailment last week.

The freight train derailed near Vredenburg north of Saldanha in the Western Cape on Thursday July 22. It was en route from Kumba Iron Ore's (KIO) Sishen mine in the Northern Cape to the Saldanha Port.

The 861-kilometre-long export iron ore line has the capacity to transport around 50 million tons of iron ore a year.

Sandile Simelane, spokesman for the TFR, said the division originally intended to open the line on Monday, but it now expected to open it at 6pm local time on Wednesday.

The derailment has delayed the movement of iron ore along the Sishen-Saldanha railway line. The TRF moves about 900 000 tons to one million tons a week on average.

Simelane said the unit and its customers are planning how they would recover from the delay.

At this stage, the TFR will only know the costs of the damage after its investigation into the derailment, Simelane said.

Two locomotives derailed along with 107 of the wagons in the rear portion of the train, which consists of over 300 wagons.

On Friday, the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) said it had launched an investigation into the cause of the derailment.

"Two railway safety inspectors have been dispatched to the scene to conduct an on-site investigation," the RSR said.

The regulator said the derailment had resulted in "extensive damage" to rolling stock and infrastructure.

"There is no indication of the probable cause of the occurrence at this stage," the RSR said.

It said the line has been closed for clean up and repair operations.

The damaged line connects iron ore mines near Sishen in the Northern Cape with the port at Saldanha in the Western Cape. The line is dedicated to transporting iron ore and it does not carry passengers.

As part of its mandate, the RSR monitors and ensures safety compliance by conducting audits, inspections, safety assessments and occurrence investigations. - I-Net Bridge

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Saldanha Bay. Kumba Iron Ore considering a Value share arrangement.

South Africa's iron-ore miner Kumba Iron Ore (KIO) has confirmed that it is considering a "conditional" value-sharing arrangement for the 6,25-million tons of iron-ore that it mines for ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) and has previously supplied to the steel producer under a cost-plus 3% arrangement that flowed from the 2001 unbundling of Iscor.

The miner met with the Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel and Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu on Monday, where the value-sharing concept may have been canvassed. However, Engineering News Online could not confirm that it was indeed discussed. The three Ministers were due to meet with the the leadership from AMSA on Tuesday.

Business Day reported that value-sharing proposal was premised on KIO winning its arbitration with AMSA and on the miner also securing rights to the 21,4% of the Sishen mine allegedly "lost" by AMSA, owing to its failure to convert those right under the prescripts of South Africa's minerals legislation.

KIO has requested a review of a decision by the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) to grant prospecting rights over the property to a little-known black economic-empowerment (BEE) company, called Imperial Crown Trading. Further, it had kept its legal options open by lodging an application against the DMR's decision with the High Court.

Engineering News Online understands that the issue of the minerals rights was being treated as "sensitive" in the engagements between government and KIO, owing to the legal challenge. This was reportedly making it difficult for the participants to openly debate the matter.

Bloomberg quoted DMR DG Sandile Nogxina as saying that Shabangu would make a decision on disputed prospecting “within the next week".

In the meantime, government was continuing to pursue a so-called developmental outcome, which would be premised on a deal that ensured viable and cost-competitive steel production, as well as competitive steel pricing.

Government has indicated that it will use "all the tools" available to it to ensure that these outcomes are realised, and has even hinted to the imposition of export taxes on iron-ore, or the deployment of South Africa's minerals rights legislation to ensure that "developmental" pricing is sustained.

The fact that the intervention involves all three Ministers is seen as significant, owing to the fact that it signalled that government had finally reached internal alignment around its developmental goals.

Initially, the DMR, which held most of the power to influence the outcome, had been focused almost exclusively on extracting maximum BEE value from Sishen. In the process, close observers had said that it neglected other policy imperatives surrounding the highly strategic iron-ore rights.

Engineering News Online understands that a government task team could be established later in the week to take forward the technical aspects flowing from the discussions held between the Ministers and the leadership of KIO and AMSA.

Government continues to stress that the recent interim pricing agreement has failed to address a number of outstanding issues arising from the dispute between the two companies and that they would seek a more "permanent" solution that embraces "developmental" objectives.

Government was likely to continue to stress in its meetings with AMSA that any solution cannot lead to a repeat of the previous dispensation, whereby iron-ore pricing benefits were accrued, but never passed onto South African steel consumers.

Source engineeringnews.co.za

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Govt shifts iron-ore emphasis from corporate rights to national interest

The South African government moved on Thursday to further shift the emphasis in the ongoing dispute between Kumba Iron Ore (KIO) and ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) beyond the realm of corporate and legal rights, to one that was also sensitive to South Africa's national interests.

The State's bid to influence the tone of the discussion began in earnest last Friday, when Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies made a public offer to mediate in the escalating conflict - this after AMSA threatened to shut capacity and retrench up to 4 000 of its 10 000 workers should KIO proceed with a pay-and-take pricing model as from August 1.

The strategy was further consolidated by Monday's "constructive engagement", which involved Davies, Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel, as well as AMSA CEO Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita and KIO CEO Chris Griffith. After the Pretoria meeting, government said that all the participants had committed themselves to reaching an agreement that would "put the country first".

However, Engineering News Online understands that government and the governing African National Congress have, for some time, been considering ways to intervene, particularly owing to the fact that the dispute had the potential to undermine government policies in the area of minerals beneficiation and industrialisation.

That opportunity arose when the tussle threatened to spill over beyond the steel industry at the very moment when government had reach internal alignment around its developmental goals in the area of steel pricing - a process that seemingly was given impetus by public disquiet over the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) decision to grant prospecting rights at Sishen to a little-know, yet well-connected, resources company.

In a statement issued jointly by Davies, Shabangu and Patel on Thursday, government moved to reinforce its position, which was reportedly also canvassed at the Cabinet lekgotla, by noting that an interim pricing resolution between AMSA and KIO had not resolved "critical issues arising from the dispute".

Earlier in the day, KIO and AMSA announced that they had agreed to an interim pricing agreement, retrospective to March 1, 2010, that would endure until July 31, 2011, while dispute settlement processes were pursued.

AMSA would pay a fixed $50/t of iron-ore delivered to Saldanha Steel, and $70/t for iron-ore delivered to AMSA's inland plants. AMSA would be entitled to purchase a maximum of 520 000 t/m, with a maximum of 125 000 t/m for Saldanha Steel. Any additional tonnage would be procured at the prevailing spot price, based on export parity prices.

In its statement, government stressed that the 2001 unbundling of Iscor, while having been pursued under the now commercial contract, had also involved two core public developmental obligations:
- To ensure the viability and cost competitiveness of local steel production; and
- To ensure a competitive steel pricing regime to support the development and deepening of value-added manufactured products in downstream industries.

Such "developmental outcomes" were in the "national interest", government said, adding that they were also "critical to the success of the Industrial Policy Action Plan and a shift to a new more labour-absorbing growth path".

CONDITIONS & TAXES?

"Government will use all tools available to it to ensure that these outcomes are realised," Davies and Patel warned.

Engineering News Online understands that government will consider attaching conditions to the eventual granting the Sishen mineral rights, insisting that the iron-ore is used to support a competitive steel industry, which, in turn, passes these benefits on to steel consumers.

Also under consideration, is the imposition of export taxes on locally-mined iron-ore to further encourage beneficiation.

The Ministers said that a meeting would be held with stakeholders soon to assess the impact of the interim settlement on these long-term developmental objectives.

The Ministers would also seek to ensure that the settlement did not have a negative impact on the steel price in the short run and that in the long run the rents arising from South Africa's mineral resources are used to develop the economy.

SURCHARGE TO BE DROPPED?

Davies had already lodged a formal complaint with the Competition Commission over AMSA's recently-instituted iron-ore surcharge.

There were strong indications on Thursday that the controversial Sishen surcharge, which was implemented to part recovery the increase in iron-ore prices, would be withdrawn in the wake of the more hands-on approach being adopted by government.

An announcement was expected before the monthly price adjustments were announced, which are typically released to customers on the last working day of each calendar month.

No mention, however, was made about whether a second settlement might be in the offing between the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) and KIO over the DMR's granting of AMSA's "lost" rights at Sishen to Imperial Crown Trading as "prospecting rights".

DMR is reviewing whether the award was made properly following a complaint lodged by KIO. But that company had also instituted separate legal proceedings against the department as a further safeguard.

The case, which involves some politically well connected South African business people, is being closely watched by the international resources industry, which is concerned that the DMR's actions, which some hold were unduly influenced, could impact the security of other mineral rights in the country.

Source engineeringnews.co.za

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Transnet to reopen Sishen–Saldanha line on Wednesday

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Sishen–Saldanha railway line would be reopened on Wednesday evening, Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) spokesperson Sandile Simelane confirmed on Monday.

The railway line was closed on Thursday afternoon, after a train transporting iron-ore from Kumba Iron Ore’s Sishen mine to the port of Saldanha derailed near Vredenburg.

One diesel and one electric locomotive, along with 107 wagons in the rear portion of the train, had derailed.

Simelane said that the railway and the overhead cables had also suffered some damage in the incident.

The 861-km railway line is the second-largest railway line in terms of revenue generation and carried iron-ore from mines in the Sishen region, in the Northern Cape, to the port of Saldanha for exports.

Between 900 000 t and one-million tons of iron-ore was transported on the railway line each week, noted Simelane.

Source miningweekly.com

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Derailment Sees Transnet Shut Down Ore Line

Transnet announced Saturday that it was shutting down an ore rail one after the derailment of a train with ore onboard.

The line between the Sishen mine owned by Kumba Iron Ore and the Saldhana port would take the parastatal some time to clear. It is used by Kumba to export steel and ore to foreign markets.

Sandile Simelane of Transnet said : “we will need to conduct an enquiry to establish what happened. We will also need to clear the iron ore (from the rail track) before the line can be opened, but I can't tell when this is going to happen”.

Kumba was recently involved in an ugly dispute with ArcelorMittal over pricing for iron ore delivered by the mining group to them. The dispute ended this week after the intervention of government Minister Rob Davies.

Transnet transports about 44.7 million tons of ore annually.

Source newstime.co.za

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Derailment Sees Transnet Shut Down Ore Line

Transnet announced Saturday that it was shutting down an ore rail one after the derailment of a train with ore onboard.

The line between the Sishen mine owned by Kumba Iron Ore and the Saldhana port would take the parastatal some time to clear. It is used by Kumba to export steel and ore to foreign markets.

Sandile Simelane of Transnet said : “we will need to conduct an enquiry to establish what happened. We will also need to clear the iron ore (from the rail track) before the line can be opened, but I can't tell when this is going to happen”.

Kumba was recently involved in an ugly dispute with ArcelorMittal over pricing for iron ore delivered by the mining group to them. The dispute ended this week after the intervention of government Minister Rob Davies.

Transnet transports about 44.7 million tons of ore annually.

Source newstime.co.za

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Derailment Sees Transnet Shut Down Ore Line

Transnet announced Saturday that it was shutting down an ore rail one after the derailment of a train with ore onboard.

The line between the Sishen mine owned by Kumba Iron Ore and the Saldhana port would take the parastatal some time to clear. It is used by Kumba to export steel and ore to foreign markets.

Sandile Simelane of Transnet said : “we will need to conduct an enquiry to establish what happened. We will also need to clear the iron ore (from the rail track) before the line can be opened, but I can't tell when this is going to happen”.

Kumba was recently involved in an ugly dispute with ArcelorMittal over pricing for iron ore delivered by the mining group to them. The dispute ended this week after the intervention of government Minister Rob Davies.

Transnet transports about 44.7 million tons of ore annually.

Source newstime.co.za

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ArcelorMittal SA seeks quick end to row with kumba

The South African unit of ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel maker, on Tuesday said it was cooperating with Kumba Iron Ore to expedite a prolonged dispute over iron-ore supply amicably.

ArcelorMittal South Africa also said steel prices were set to rise on recovery of global demand, restocking and a boom in South Africa's economy, particularly in the construction industry.

"We are co-operating (with Kumba) to take the matter to arbitration," Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita, CEO of ArcelorMittal South Africa, said at a meeting for shareholders.

She later declined to provide further details to Reuters.

Kumba, a unit of global miner Anglo American, terminated the preferential pricing deal with the steelmaker, claiming that the company had failed to renew its mining rights in Sishen mine as per South African mining laws.

Kumba supplies ArcelorMittal from the Sishen mine.

"We remain firmly optimistic that the supply agreement (with Kumba) is valid and we are taking necessary steps to protect our rights," Johnson Njeke, the unit's chairman said at the same meeting.

Nyembezi-Heita later told Reuters that the refusal by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe to allow ArcelorMittal to take over the country's Zisco Steel, was a lost opportunity to show foreign investors Harare was changing its policies.

"What Zisco would have offered us was a presence in a part of the world where we could service landlocked neighbouring states, plus participating in the rebuild of Zimbabwe as a country, obviously now we have lost that," she said.

"But we haven't lost the strategy and ambition for our Sub-Saharan footprint," Nyembezi-Heita said.

Nyembezi-Heita said ArcelorMittal South Africa planned to grow its market within Sub-Saharan Africa in countries like Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and also Ghana.

Nyembezi-Heita said the global economic climate had improved and that she saw this supporting prices.

"We are seeing prices being traded up and up. There is also restocking and a rebound in steel demand," Nyembezi-Heita said.

Edited by: Reuters

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Strike at Saldanha port, Kumba has iron ore for 7 days.

Thousands of South African transport workers went on strike on Monday at logistics group Transnet, threatening to cripple rail, fuel pipelines and port operations in Africa's biggest economy.

The strike - the latest in a series of public protests ahead of next month's soccer World Cup - could affect coal and iron-ore exports, fuel distribution, and shipping.

Power utility Eskom said the strike, which began after failed wage talks, would have no impact on the transport of coal used to power its plants, as only small amounts of coal were carried by rail, with the rest supplied by conveyor belts directly from mines.

Transnet does not run passenger train services,

The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) said it expected all of its 20 000 members to strike. Another union, the United Transport and Allied Trade Union (Utatu) has urged its members to consider Transnet's latest pay offer and to report for duty on Monday.

If Utatu's members reject the offer, the union said it would join the strike by Wednesday. The two unions represent 85% of Transnet's workforce of about 54 000 people.

Both unions want a 15% pay increase. Transnet has now offered 11%.

"We can keep this strike going as long as the employer has not met our demands," saidJoseph Dube, Satawu's secretary for the KwaZulu Natal province.

Fifteen people were hurt when police fired rubber bullets at them in the port city of Durban after they failed to follow a police order to disperse, the SAPA news agency said.

Transnet and coal, iron-ore, ferrochrome and fuel producers, said they were confident they could supply customers for days due to built up stocks at the ports.

"The strike will not have a material immediate impact on our exports," said Pranill Ramchander, an Anglo American spokesman.

The group's thermal coal unit is the country's biggest coal exporter. South Africa exports most of its coal to power stations in Europe, but increasingly to Asia as well.

For now, operations at Richards Bay Coal Terminal, the world's largest coal export terminal, have been running as normal, Chief Executive Raymond Chirwa said.

"Depending on ship arrivals, our stocks could last us for three to four weeks," he said.

Kumba Iron Ore, also an Anglo unit, said the company had sufficient stocks at Saldanha port to keep loading vessels for at least seven days.

If the strike is prolonged, it could have a serious impact on the country's ferrochrome industry, the world's largest. Hernic Ferrochrome, a unit of Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation, relies on Transnet for 75% of its transports.

Freshgold SA Exports, which ships fresh produce out of the country said its operations were being hit.

"The strike has physically halted our container loadings from this morning ... if it's a week the impact will be quite severe," said Freshgold MD Pieter von Maltitz.

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ArcelorMittal in Saldanha Bay could be facing iron ore supply problems.

Kumba Iron Ore appears to have dealt steel giant ArcelorMittal South Africa another body blow in the ongoing battle between the two companies.

The Mail & Guardian understands that Kumba has applied for a 21% share in the mining rights to the Sishen mine, which lie at the heart of the corporate bun fight.

The matter is being closely watched as it ultimately goes to the heart of steel pricing in the country and could affect manufacturing and jobs.

Neither company would comment, but they are understood to have entered arbitration to resolve the dispute. To add to ArcelorMittal’s woes an industry insider speculates that the government’s dissatisfaction with its steel pricing, as well as its lack of empowerment status, has left it with little sympathy in the corridors of power.

If Kumba is granted ownership of the minority portion of the rights, which ArcelorMittal held and failed to convert into new order mining rights, this could give Kumba the leverage it needs to force a better price for the 6.25-million tons of iron ore that it supplies to Arcelor-Mittal each year, according to analysts.

The rights have since reverted to the state. “The holder of the right was meant to apply for conversion before April 2009 and they [ArcelorMittal] failed to do so,” said Jeremy Michaels, a spokesperson for the department.

How Kumba’s application will be received is unclear. The department viewed the issue as a dispute between “two private companies”, said Michaels. DMR would not comment on any applications for the rights.

Under a contract negotiated through the unbundling of the state-owned Iscor in 2001 -- which resulted in the creation of what became Kumba Iron Ore, its ironore mining arm, and ArcelorMittal South Africa -- ArcelorMittal, because of its share of the mining rights in Sishen, would receive 6.25-million tonnes of ore from the Sishen mine at cost plus 3%.

The mining rights, viewed as undivided, are 79% owned by Kumba through its subsidiary the Sishen Iron Ore company, with the minority share or 21% lying with ArcelorMittal. ArcelorMittal paid R2.5-billion at the time for the rights to Sishen and the 6.25-million tonnes of ore a year at cost plus 3%

On February 26 ArcelorMittal suspended trading of its shares after Sishen notified the company on February 5 that it would no longer be supplying ArcelorMittal with ore at the preferential price, but rather at market-related prices.

It is understood that Kumba viewed ArcelorMittal’s failure to convert its share of the mining rights as an opportunity to amend the deal unilaterally. A prior arbitration ruling on a related matter is believed to have given it the impetus to do so.

In the development of the Sishen South project -- an extension of the Sishen mine -- ArcelorMittal had assumed a matching arrangement (cost plus 3%) on the output of Sishen South. Kumba disputed this.

The matter went to arbitration and late last year it was ruled that, because ArcelorMittal did not own the mining rights in this matter, it was not entitled to a similar deal.

But ArcelorMittal is understood to take a different view, which is that, on the division of the Sishen mining rights, Kumba, owning the majority share, would deal with the regulatory issues, including mining-rights applications and conversions. Mittal re-opened trading of its shares last week, with a reported 23% drop in the price.

The very sweet price granted to ArcelorMittal has been a sore point for the South African government.

On Iscor’s unbundling, facilitated by the department of trade and industry, under Alec Erwin, the price granted was, in part, aimed at locking in lower costs for the local steel industry and ensuring its competitiveness. But ArcelorMittal has been accused of not passing on the benefits of these prices to local customers.

Instead, it opted to benchmark its price against a basket of countries, which critics argue is closer to import prices and ensures Arcelor- Mittal retains extensive profits. Its pricing saw the company being dragged to the Competition Tribunal and slapped with just under R700-million in fines. But it challenged the ruling and subsequently settled with the complainants.

ArcelorMittal has long denied the accusations, citing rebates to customers that allow them to export competitively as one example of the support it provides to customers.

According to Matt Brenzel, portfolio manager at Cadiz Securities, a victory for Kumba might not affect local steel prices. Instead, a better price for Kumba would ideally affect only ArcelorMittal’s profit margins.

Brenzel estimated that ArcelorMittal was receiving ore from Sishen at roughly R125/tonne. Compared with an export parity price of around R475/tonne ArcelorMittal stood to earn more than R2-billion a year from the deal.

He noted that if Kumba did get ArcelorMittal’s share of the rights, the company would achieve little besides room to negotiate for a better price.

In terms of off-take, ArcelorMittal was the only real customer that Kumba had for the ore, given the constraints on the rail line to transport ore to Saldanha Bay for export, he said. Aside from pricing issues Arcelor-Mittal’s failure to strike an empowerment deal is also seen as an irritation to some sectors of government.

ArcelorMittal is one of the largest suppliers of steel to a number of companies, including mining houses. Under the mining charter, companies are expected to procure goods from BEE-compliant suppliers.

One industry insider argued that, with ArcelorMittal being one of the largest suppliers of such a key input, it has meant the transformation performance of miners is looking increasingly bad.

ArcelorMittal had apparently planned to undertake a BEE deal but this was put on hold because of the financial crisis and the recession that followed.


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Kumba Assesses Participation in the Sishen-Saldanha Iron Ore Railway Line

South Africa’s largest iron ore exporter Kumba Iron Ore would like to get directly involved in the operation of the Sishen-Saldanha railway line, according to its CEO Chris Griffith. Mr Griffith acknowledged the issue was a sensitive one. This is because although Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) maintains it is running Sishen-Saldanha to international best practice, Mr Griffith believes it could be better operated with private sector involvement. Two of Kumba’s competitors – Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton maintain they have a competitive advantage in the iron ore export business because they own and operate their own railway lines and port handling infrastructure in Western Australia. Mr Griffith agreed with that assessment. Transnet acting CEO Chris Wells has strongly defended TFR’s running of the Sishen-Saldanha line. He said he was aware of the criticism, but said: “On any measure you care to apply, we are running the Sishen-Saldanha line as a world class operation.” The eventual outcome of this debate could have major implications for the proposed increase of export capacity on the line beyond the current planned expansion to 60 million tonnes (mt) per year. Mr Griffith said : “Transnet has not done a bad job, but we believe the line can be run better. If there was an opportunity to run those assets in collaboration with government, we would jump at it. But there are some things you can change and others you can’t. You have to just get on and make the best of the environment in which you find yourself.” Transnet has just completed the Phase 1A expansion of capacity on the line to 41mt/year, and is about to start the Phase 1B expansion to 47mt/year. The para-statal said in its 2009 financial results that approval “in principle” had been obtained to go ahead with the R4.3bn Phase 1C expansion to 60mt/year. The country’s two major iron ore exporters, Kumba and Assmang, previously indicated their desire to push exports well above the 60mt/year level and had been talking about going to 95mt/year. The first indication this may not happen was given on October 29, when Mr Wells said : “There has been a rethink on the economics of further expansion to the 95mt/year capacity. After assessing the capital cost of getting to 95mt/year, it’s clear that a prohibitive tariff would have to be charged. The result is that iron ore exporters are still keen to expand their capacity above 60mt/year, but not to 95mt/year.” That’s not quite the way the iron ore exporters see the situation. A source said: “On the Transnet figures, there is not going to be any expansion of the Sishen-Saldanha line above 60mt/year. The cost and the tariff are just too high. “We have to take a radically different approach to find a solution. We need to get in new people with fresh views to assess the situation. Maybe we need to get the work done by Chinese contractors if that will drastically reduce the estimated cost.” A major change already being looked at for any growth beyond 60mt/year is to diversify the line to handle about 12mt/year of manganese exports as well as iron ore. South Africa’s manganese deposits are located in the same region of the Northern Cape as the iron ore deposits. Mr Wells said Transnet was looking at a proposal to push capacity on the line to just under 90mt/year, of which 75mt would be allocated to the iron ore exporters and 12mt to the manganese mines. The balance of about 2mt/year is being kept in reserve for small black economic empowerment (BEE) iron ore producers, of which there are as yet none. Mr Griffith welcomed the decision to include the manganese exporters on the line, with one proviso which concerned the design of the expanded port facilities to handle the two commodities. He said: “We believe the mining industry has a role to play in the expansion above 60mt/year. Our key concern as iron ore exporters is to ensure that there is no contamination of the iron ore stockpiles at Saldanha Bay from the manganese stockpiles. “That is a huge issue for us, and the expanded port has to be designed to make sure that this does not happen.“ Mr Griffith added Transnet and the iron ore exporters had a window of about three years to carry out the necessary studies assessing the future of the Sishen-Saldanha line above 60mt/year. miningmx

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40 children will learn to ride waves in the South African Bodyboarding Championships

Flowers are not the only thing worth driving up the West Coast to see in the coming week. The annual South African Bodyboarding Championships hosted by Reef Wetsuits will be taking place in the Lamberts Bay area on the Cape’s West Coast from 27th September - 2nd October 2009. This year’s SA Champs has changed in format from previous years. In the past, the hosting province decided at which beach the competition would be run, and the duration of that event would be dedicated to only that beach. This year, Boland Bodyboarding Association, the host, has worked with the Cederberg Municipality to ensure that they have a “roaming venue”. This means that not only one beach has to be used but if conditions are better suited for another surf break, the whole contest can be moved to that beach and contested there. What this also means, is that no one rider, getting accustomed to the surf spot and conditions, gets a “growing” advantage during the competition. This allows for fair competition amongst the riders. Exciting competitors to look out for from the 6 competing provinces, are Vaughn Harris from Boland, defending junior champ, David Lilienfield, Sacha Specker and Daniel Worsley from Western Province, Derek Footit and David Lee from Southern Natal, Charles Pass from Central Natal and World Tour campaigner and wildcard entry Mark McCarthy from Northern Natal. One of the most exciting and promising projects to come out of this year’s SA Champs is the inclusion of KUMBA IRON ORE and the development clinic they are running with the help of all the provincial teams. Kumba Iron Ore and Boland Bodyboarding Association have made it possible for 80 local children in the Lamberts Bay area to learn the sport of Bodyboarding along with water safety. Kumba Iron Ore has generously donated bodyboarding gear to all the children who attend the once -in -a -lifetime clinic with some of South Africa’s best bodyboarders. The handover will take place on Lamberts Bay beach on Monday the 28th at 15:00. To follow the progress of the event day by day, go to www.sixty40.co.za SOURCE: South African Bodyboarding Association