Toyota South Africa’s Prospecton plant, in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, will take three to six months to get back to full production capacity, Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) president and CEO Andrew Kirby has said.

The plant was shut temporarily following a severe flooding incident that affected predominantly a widespread area in Durban downstream of the Shongweni dam on April 12.

Sluice gates were opened at the Shongweni dam after heavy rainfall resulted in the dam reaching capacity. The release of a vast volume of water meant that mud- and silt-laden water breached the banks of the Mlazi river near Toyota’s plant in the Industrial area.

The subsequent flood resulted in water entering the ground and basement levels of the Prospecton plant, reaching depths of between 1.5 m and 1.8 m.

The resulting flood knocked out electricity, water supply and telecommunications services to the entire plant.

During a site visit on August 16, TSAM said the plant was ramping up operations, with many production lines having opened back up. The plant is expected to produce about 135 100 vehicles this year, compared with the 203 700 units a year produced prior to the flooding.

Following the flooding, TSAM embarked on an eight-stage process to ramp up operations, Phase 1 involved emergency control measures.

The second phase saw the company prioritise making operations safe, secure and clean, while Phase 3 involved restoring electricity to the plant after it was cut to prevent electrocution directly after the flood.

Phase 4 saw Toyota South Africa checking and assessing equipment, while Phase 5 involved repairs of damaged, but recoverable equipment, as well as ordering replacement equipment that could not be repaired.

Delivery of new equipment and verification thereof were taken care of in Phases 6 and 7, while the final phase involves machinery and plant start-up.

Mass production of Hino units was reached on May 24, Toyota Hi-Ace units on July 15 and the Corolla Cross on July 28. TSAM plans to go into mass production of Corolla Quest units on August 17. The Hino production line is running at full capacity.

On August 12, TSAM shipped its first post-flood batch of export vehicles to Europe, showing its commitment to scaling up operations.

TSAM is also implementing future climate resilience measures, such as raising sensitive electronic equipment off the factory floor. This is being done to ensure the company remains insurable and to ensure it can better weather any similar incident or other climate-change-related weather incidents in the future.