DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC ENTERPRISES
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
NCOP
QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO.: 25
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 14 August 2009
Mr H B Groenewald (DA-NW) to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises:
1) Whether, with reference to the state of roads across the country and
the increasing number of trucks on the roads, her department has any
(a)(i) medium and/or (ii) long term action and (b) policy to uplift
the railway sector; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant
details;
(2) what is the (a) budget allocated and (b) intended expenditure on the
railway in each of the provinces over the medium and long
term;
(3) whether any items of South African railway equipment are located in
foreign countries; if so, (a) how many, (b) in which countries and
(c) what is the action plan to return each item of equipment?
CW37E
REPLY
(1)(a)(i-ii) Transnet Freight Rail operates the rail network and rolling
stock. The revitalization of the railway sector remains a priority for the
Department, and a shift from road to rail requires both capital investments
and an overall improvement in the performance of the rail sector.
Initiatives to facilitate the shift of freight from road to rail over the
next five years include the following :
⢠An improvement in operating efficiency and asset utilisation as well
as an improvement in on-time arrivals and departures. For example, on-
time departures have improved from 30% to 60% on average in the past
three (3) years;
⢠Capital investment that contributes to reliability and availability of
rolling stock and equipment;
⢠Encouraging public private partnerships to unlock potential that would
otherwise be constrained through a lack of capital;
⢠Inculcating a safety-first mindset; and
⢠Skills development and capability improvement to support the changing
needs of the logistics sector.
Initiatives beyond the five year period include the following :
⢠A combination of new service offerings;
⢠Continued capital investments to create capacity; and
⢠Introduction of rail-specific technologies.
(1)(b) Policies aimed at improving the position of the railway sector fall
within the ambit of the Department of Transport (DoT). The DPE is however
working together with DOT in this regard, to develop policies that
facilitate the shift of freight from road to rail. An example of such a
policy framework is the access arrangements on branch lines.
(2)(a-b) Capital projects in respect of the railways are national in
character and are not identified by province.
The table below indicates the 2009/10 - 2013/14 Five Year Capital Programme
reflecting the capital spend over defined freight corridors, in line with
the corridor management philosophy. Values are in Rand Million.
| |2009/10|2010/11|2011/12|2012/13|2013/14|Five |
|CORRIDOR | | | | | |Years |
| |NIL |R10 |R40 |NIL |NIL |R50 |
|Gauteng - Beit | | | | | | |
|Bridge | | | | | | |
|Gauteng - Cape |R4 |R43 |R65 |R25 |R24 |R161 |
|Town | | | | | | |
| |R269 |R150 |R125 |R118 |R43 |R705 |
|Gauteng - Durban| | | | | | |
|Gauteng - Ngqura|R330 |R50 |R54 |NIL |R10 |R444 |
|/ Port Elizabeth| | | | | | |
|/ East London | | | | | | |
|Gauteng - |R2,104 |R2,234 |R2,073 |R1,668 |R1,169 |R9,248 |
|Richards Bay | | | | | | |
| |R67 |R21 |NIL |NIL |NIL |R87 |
|Gauteng - Maputo| | | | | | |
| |R4,517 |R4,649 |R4,892 |R5,701 |R5,848 |R25,607|
|National | | | | | | |
| |R30 |R94 |R75 |R90 |R20 |R309 |
|Sishen - Ngqura | | | | | | |
| |R1,757 |R3,834 |R2,506 |R541 |R546 |R9,184 |
|Sishen - | | | | | | |
|Saldanha | | | | | | |
| |R9,401 |R11,388|R10,024|R8,159 |R7,660 |R46,632|
|Grand Total | | | | | | |
(3)(a-c) No.