Johannesburg: Government is working towards re-establishing rail as the backbone of transport while ensuring that strategic infrastructure such as rail lines and ports remain in public ownership, says Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy. “By ensuring the prompt execution of reforms in the logistics sector we can reduce the risks present in both our global and domestic environments,” the Minister said on Thursday.
According to South African Government News Agency, as part of ongoing efforts to revitalise the transport and logistics sector, government is bringing the private sector on board to fund infrastructure development. “The limited availability of state resources to fund infrastructure development makes private sector investment critical. To guide private sector investment in our five-priority rail and port corridors, we have just concluded a Request for Information process,” the Minister said.
The Minister made the remarks at the National Press Club Roundtable on Transport Economy, held to launch the October Transport Month Campaign under the theme: “Implementing an integrated, sustainable and safe transport system that promotes inclusive economic growth, job creation and social development.”
Government’s work on reforming the freight rail programme is informed by the White Paper on the National Rail Policy of 2022 and complemented by the National Freight Logistics Roadmap of 2023. “We are currently processing the 163 submissions we received from private sector players and intend to release the first request of proposal or RFP by December this year. In line with the Private Sector Participation envisioned in the White Paper on the National Rail Policy, we announced the first 11 private rail operators in August this year,” the Minister said.
Significant progress has been made in improving operational and capacity-related challenges that have plagued the country’s ports. “As a result of the hard work by the Transnet War room, rail tonnage increased by 9 million tons to 161 million tons last year; and containers handled in our ports increased by 48,000 Units (TEUs), 54% up from last year. Since July this year we have been reaching or exceeding our weekly TEU target and I am pleased to report that there are no longer queues at our port terminals,” Creecy said.
According to Airports Company South Africa SOC Ltd (ACSA), 489,000 tons of air freight moved through our airports last year and 18.97 million passengers indicating that government is on track to achieving its 2029 targets. ACSA has been allocated R21.7 billion for infrastructure development. This will improve facilities for passenger safety and comfort, over the medium-term period, and build a new freight terminal at OR Tambo International Airport.
Recently Oxford Economics Africa confirmed that South African Airways (SAA) contributed R9.1 billion to South Africa’s GDP in 2023/24, a figure projected to more than triple to R32.6 billion by 2029/30. “Over the same period, the airline’s operations are expected to support 86,700 jobs, up from the current 25,000, demonstrating their growing role as a national employer and economic catalyst. SAA is pursuing a bold route expansion to strengthen its regional and global footprint. New regional routes from Johannesburg and Cape Town aim to boost intra-African connectivity, supporting tourism and trade. The airline has begun a measured fleet expansion to meet growing demand, reinforcing its role as a connector of economies across the continent and beyond,” the Minister said.
By end of May 2025, The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) successfully revived 35 out of 40 service lines. It has also achieved an unaudited figure of 77 million passenger journeys for the last financial year and 116 million passenger journeys for the 25/26 financial year.