Transnet to cover 60% of R300bn rail expansion - Gigaba
Transnet will cover two-thirds of its R300bn infrastructure programme with "retained earnings", Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba said, adding that R100bn would be raised "by the market", Fin24 reports.
"Quite clearly, this massive capacity growth should unlock pent-up demand for logistics capacity and serve as a much-needed stimulus to growth and job creation," he said.
In the next quarter, Gigaba said, Transnet would introduce a seven-year fleet locomotive procurement, unprecedented in South Africa's history. By 2020, 6 405km of rail would have been replaced for the general freight coal and ore lines, 1 317 new locomotives and 25 000 new wagons would have been added, increasing the rail network capacity by 149.7 million tonnes. According to Fin24, Transnet's contribution to employment would increase from 369 000 to just above 570 000 in 2018/2019. The project would, however, require "serious private sector participation", Gigaba said.
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