The EFF has rejected Transnet’s proposal to outsource the improvement of its container corridor between Johannesburg and Durban.
Transnet said in January that it planned to approach the market for a 20-year lease of its 670-kilometer double-track electrified rail container corridor, citing a lack of money to continue operating the business.
“As part of its partnerships strategy, Transnet has decided to engage the market to invest in and grow Transnet Freight Rail’s (TFR) containerised freight business, which is the backbone of the country’s manufacturing sector,” the state-owned corporation stated.
“Transnet will launch a request for qualifications (RFQ) to find firms interested in a 20-year operational lease with TFR for the operation and maintenance of the container corridor [the line between Johannesburg and Durban].
The container corridor rail mainline is a fully electrified double-tracked rail line that runs from Booth, KwaZulu-Natal, to Union, Gauteng. While the mainline’s route length is 670 kilometers, the double track, major marshalling yards, and auxiliary rail lines increase the overall track length of the container corridor to 1,680 kilometers.
Sinawo Thambo, spokesman for the EFF, stated that the strategic corridor was constructed with taxpayer funds to boost industrialisation and the country’s economy, and that outsourcing it would be an act of “greed and senseless profiteering.”
“Transnet’s intention to outsource such a strategic business line to the private sector is to support the extractive neocolonial economy that continues to steal Africa’s mineral resources for the benefit of the United States and Europe,” said Thambo.
Transnet’s operations were compromised on all fronts due to the failure to adopt a comprehensive infrastructure expansion and maintenance strategy.
There is no assurance, according to Thambo, that outsourcing the corridor will improve the company’s operations.
“Transnet once had the potential to transport over 200 million tons of freight annually. There is neither reason nor proof that outsourcing such a key and important function of Transnet would significantly improve its operations.
“Greed is the driving force behind the sabotage of Transnet, specifically its build program that was beginning to unite sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of the continent through the creation of competitive corridor supply chains aimed to integrate ports and railways.
“Transnet is a public strategic asset built with taxpayer funds to support industrialisation efforts for the benefit of the entire South African population.”
“It confirms that Cyril Ramaphosa’s prepaid presidency is paying its funders at the expense of workers and all South Africans by allowing the outsourcing of such an important strategic line to be turned into a profit-making function when it was supposed to be for the greater good.”
Thambo argues that many state-owned entities that had previously been outsourced or privatized were deficient, highlighting corruption and incompetence.
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Nompilo Zulu
»EFF opposes Transnet’s proposal to outsource the container route«