The South African Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF) says the country needs a practical, sustainable and functional public-private partnership to overcome disorder at Transnet Freight Rail (TFR).
The association made this call before President Cyril Ramaphosa’s state of the nation address (Sona) on Thursday evening.
The SAAFF said in his Sona last year, Ramaphosa pledged Transnet would start the process of providing third-party access to its freight rail network from April 2022 by making slots available in the container corridor between Durban and City Deep in Gauteng.
“To date, the private sector has not seen reform to provide third-party access to private operators in our national rail network.”
Ramaphosa had also stated Transnet had developed partnerships with the private sector to address cable theft and vandalism on the freight rail network through advanced technologies and additional security personnel. He said then the partnerships were already showing results in reduced disruptions to rail operations.
“Unfortunately, the opposite has been true. Though the deterioration of rail freight has been a reality for some time, the astonishing acceleration of disruptive occurrences due to crime and malfunctioning equipment and stripped infrastructure in recent months has been a disaster,” the SAAFF said.
Public-private partnership needed for Transnet Freight Rail: SAAFF
Crime, damaged equipment and infrastructure crippling key rail freight routes
The South African Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF) says the country needs a practical, sustainable and functional public-private partnership to overcome disorder at Transnet Freight Rail (TFR).
The association made this call before President Cyril Ramaphosa’s state of the nation address (Sona) on Thursday evening.
The SAAFF said in his Sona last year, Ramaphosa pledged Transnet would start the process of providing third-party access to its freight rail network from April 2022 by making slots available in the container corridor between Durban and City Deep in Gauteng.
“To date, the private sector has not seen reform to provide third-party access to private operators in our national rail network.”
Ramaphosa had also stated Transnet had developed partnerships with the private sector to address cable theft and vandalism on the freight rail network through advanced technologies and additional security personnel. He said then the partnerships were already showing results in reduced disruptions to rail operations.
“Unfortunately, the opposite has been true. Though the deterioration of rail freight has been a reality for some time, the astonishing acceleration of disruptive occurrences due to crime and malfunctioning equipment and stripped infrastructure in recent months has been a disaster,” the SAAFF said.
The request for qualifications (RFQ) issued by TFR to the market last week provided a glimmer of hope that rail can return to handling volumes of a bygone era when it was productive, offering a reliable level of service.
Transnet issued the RFQ to identify parties interested in entering into an operating lease with TFR for the operation and maintenance of the container corridor (the line between Johannesburg and Durban) for 20 years.
Transnet said the operating lease would provide the required investment in the rehabilitation, upgrade and maintenance of the rail network and rolling stock as well as operations of the container corridor.
The state-owned enterprise said the involvement of the private sector was intended to result in a significant shift of containers from road to rail and improve reliability and efficiency.
“We cannot emphasise enough the need for a functioning rail system. It is critical to understand the opportunity cost if we fail to cement reform with a sustainable, well-planned and properly implemented strategy.”
The association said the increasing rate of damage to road networks could be directly attributed to the lamentable performance of the rail system.
“We need strong leadership and a change in direction in our state-owned enterprises, notably Transnet.”
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