Private rail operator gives thumbs up to logistics plans

PRIVATE rail operator Traxtion Africa yesterday gave the thumbs up to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana's plans to address South Africa's increasingly unreliable logistics system, saying that the private investment into the rail network would stimulate development.

In his Budget speech on Wednesday, Godongwana highlighted the Freight Logistics Roadmap, which outlines immediate steps needed to improve port equipment, locomotive availability and network security.

Godongwana said the roadmap would facilitate the introduction of competition and leveraging the financial and technical support of the private sector.

In this regard, Godongwana said third-party access to the freight rail network would be introduced by May 2024 to mitigate the logistics challenges emanating from Transnet's operational failures.

Traxtion CEO James Holley yesterday said they were expecting that the industry would announce the first investment into private freight train capacity later in 2024 as a result of this development.

Holley said they were anticipating that the investment would be focused on the bulk freight sectors and this was excellent for the national economy.

Private sector organisations within the built industry were also buoyed by the government's plans announced for mega infrastructure development projects.

Godongwana prioritised infrastructure provision with plans to invest more than R943 billion in public infrastructure, which will be used to support the refurbishment and maintenance of existing assets and the building of new infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Godongwana also announced the introduction of fundamental and far-reaching reforms to infrastructure financing and delivery in a bid to streamline procedures, enhance accountability, and introduce new financing instruments.

He said the reforms were to optimise the infrastructure value chain to be effective and efficient, and would strengthen the public investment management and the associated value chain but also attract private sector participation.

The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (Saice) president Andrew Clothier said the government's commitment to infrastructure spending was encouraging, but emphasised the importance of transparent and efficient allocation and use of funds.