DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC ENTERPRISES
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
NCOP
QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO.: 320
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 19 August 2011
320. Mr D B Feldman (COPE-Gauteng) to ask the Minister of Public
Enterprises:
(1) Whether, with regard to a certain media report (details furnished),
Transnet has instituted any preventative measures to ensure that Transnet
Freight Rail operates its business effectively to avoid missing its
targets; if not, why not; if so, (a) what measures and (b) what are the
further relevant details;
(2) How will Transnet address (a) the strikes, (b) cable theft, (c) rolling
stock faults and (d) derailments in order to avoid missing its targets as
these were the reasons provided in this regard? CW409E
Reply:
(1) Transnet has instituted various preventative measures to ensure its
businesses operate effectively to avoid missing targets.
(1)(a-b) The following measures have been instituted:
⢠Weekly and Daily dash-boards, Operational Meetings,
⢠Strategy Sessions, Monthly and Quarterly Reviews,
⢠Monthly Executive Committee Meetings and other Corporate Governance
Forums, including Board Meetings to monitor the performance and
progress of each Operating Division against the required targets,
⢠This is supported by Quarterly Reports (required by the Public Finance
Management Act) submitted to the Department of Public Enterprises for
progress review.
(2) Specific measures instituted for items listed in (1)(a-b) above are as
follows:
(2)(a) Strikes: Transnet has already concluded a wage agreement with
Organised Labour in June 2011, thus no industrial action is anticipated for
this year.
(2)(b) Cable theft: Cable theft can have a severe impact on Rail
Operations, particularly where a cable is stolen at Single Lines, resulting
in closing down the entire Section of the Line.
Interventions introduced by TFR over the past 12 months have seen cable
theft occurrences reduced from an average of 40 per week to about 11 per
week across the network.
A new Head of Security, who has a background in Crime Intelligence, has
been employed by Transnet to provide leadership in this critical area.
While a number of initiatives are on-going and additional initiatives will
be rolled out, it is regrettable that TFR cannot divulge its plans to
combat the scourge of cable theft as this could expose our strategies to
the syndicates.
TFR and PRASA have been on record in calling for the re-classification of
Copper as a precious metal and for the theft thereof from infrastructure
networks in transport and telecommunications to be deemed as sabotage -
however, that will require amendment of various legislations. The recent
spate of cable thefts on the Gautrain network has seen the Gautrain
Management Agency join the call for Government to reclassify Copper. (2)(c)
Rolling stock faults: There is a revised Service Level Agreement (SLA)
between TFR and Transnet Rail Engineering (TRE) to enforce management and
monitoring of the locomotive and wagon fleets; the new SLA addresses
Maintenance, Quality Assurance (QA), Fleet Management and in-service
routines.
To improve reliability of the locomotive fleet, Transnet will:
- Maintain and upgrade present fleet (Increased Copex
Spend); and
- Procure and deploy new locomotives (Locomotive Capex
Plan).
(2)(d) Derailments: This is another area receiving a great deal of
attention within TFR. TFRâs focus is largely on reducing those few major
derailments that have a large impact on operations.
Some of the initiatives being rolled out include, amongst others:
⢠Investment in rail replacement program of 2000 km/year;
⢠Investment in technology that improves infrastructure
failure rate and efficiency on the network;
⢠Align and consolidate all Infra investment projects
directed to efficiency and network availability;
⢠Identification of regional challenges (Incidents â Broken
rails, signalling and hook-ups) with infra reduction
programmes;
⢠Engineering development programme (Engineering Technician,
Artisan and Semi-skilled) to retain appropriate skills in
railway management.