African Rail Industry Association (ARIA) says government needs to fast track third party access to facilitate movement of container traffic.
This year, Transnet declared 8 force majeures which have hampered the supply chain and adding onto its backlogs. The Association hosted a breakfast panel discussion in Johannesburg
The African Rail Industry Association CEO, Mesela Nhlapo says should Transnet collapse it will have a massive impact on the country’s economy.
ARIA says the railway network is the backbone of the country and cannot be allowed to fail. In April this year, third party access in rail was supposed to commence.
This was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa last year, however Aria says this has still not happened. Aria says Transnet’s poor performance is costing the country growth.
On the other hand, last month Transnet workers embarked on a 2 week strike for higher wages. Aria says according to industry experts, this has cost the economy a loss worth R1 billion per day.
The recent strike has again shown up the vulnerability of the South African Freight Rail Industry and a detrimental impact such a strike has on the fragile South African economy, according to Aria,
At the same time, Gautrain Management Agency CEO, Jack Van Der Merwe says copper theft and vandalism have led to the many problems experienced in the rail network.
“The failure of rolling stock is also due to commuter behaviour and the criminal elements within the rail system, copper theft and vandalism immensely affected rolling stock, reliability were trains are stripped of cable in their staging yards.”
Aria says government needs to create an enabling environment for third access parties to come in the industry and assist Transnet to lower their burden while also assisting with the much needed capacity to clear Transnet’s backlog.
