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A well-functioning rail infrastructure that safely delivers people and goods efficiently and affordably is vital to the success of any country. 

This is why ActionSA will make the rebuilding of South Africa’s railway lines a top priority of any government that we form a part of. 

The reality is that the decline of our rail network across South Africa has become one of our greatest infrastructure casualties and a significant factor behind our slow economic growth. It has also placed the burden on businesses and households to use other more expensive and less efficient means to transport products and people on a daily basis. 

To demonstrate the quantum of the problem, in 2017 the Transnet Freight Rail Network (TFRN) was transporting 219 million tonnes of freight per year. In 2022 this figure had declined to a mere 173 million tonnes per year. 

Nowhere has this been more keenly felt than right here, on this 688km Container Corridor that runs between the Port of Durban and Gauteng and forms the backbone of our economic railway network. As recently as last year it was determined that only 13% of containers transported out of Durban Harbour are being moved by rail, with 87% being moved on trucks on the N3 to Gauteng. In 2023, this railway line operated at just 25% capacity. The cost of all of this is an estimated R353 billion or 4.9% of our national GDP. 

And anyone from this province will tell you that the evidence of this problem is clear to see in the number of trucks that block our national freeways north on the N2 to Richards Bay and North East on the N3 to Gauteng. 

The impact of this collapse has had a profound impact on our road network with export coal transported on rail having decreased from 73 million tonnes in 2017 to 58 million tonnes in 2022. That export coal is being moved by trucks, particularly from Mpumalanga to the North of KwaZulu-Natal, and has wreaked havoc on our provincial road network.

Infrastructure vandalism and theft has become a significant part of the problem, with Transnet reporting as many as 5 security related incidents take place on its line every day, resulting in substantial financial losses, disruption of operations and decreased confidence. There is also an elephant of the room that must be addressed, which is the criminal actions of political interests in the logistics industry that are widely believed to be behind the failure to protect our railway lines and event sabotage them. 

PRASA has fared even worse with passenger numbers falling through the floor. In 2022 metro passenger journeys were recorded at just 5% of the levels that PRASA was achieving in 2017. The consequence of this failure is more financial pressure on South African households who must spend more on other means of public transport.

To address South Africa’s rail crisis and to deliver a world class rail network, ActionSA will undertake the following actions: 

Reform Transnet by separating the Ports and Railway functions and absorb both functions into the Department of Transport. 

Raise R100 billion through Public Private Partnerships, and a further R100 billion from the national budget to fund the rejuvenation of the Transnet railway network. 

Institute regulatory reforms to enhance the value derived from investments in rail infrastructure as part of a broader international investment facilitation drive into public infrastructure. 

Initiate a massive public works programme that leverages the need for workers on the railway lines rejuvenation project. 

Pass new regulations under the National Key Point Act to list strategic railway lines as new National Key Points. 

Pass Criminal Laws Amendment Act that established the crime of economic sabotage to a national key point as an offence with a minimum sentence of life in prison. 

Establish a dedicated Railway Police Unit which becomes a one-stop shop involving the functions of asset protection, intelligence gathering and investigations. 

Deploy the military, under the command of the SAPS, to guard infrastructure determined as National Key Points, including our strategic railway network.

As part of the national economic strategy, ActionSA will adopt an Infrastructure Master Plan that will outline all plans associated with the rejuvenation of the South African rail network. For this plan to succeed, a multi-disciplinary infrastructure team will be established to achieve transversal management and oversight of the country’s infrastructure plans. 

South Africans can believe in a turnaround in their railway network, and broader infrastructure across the country but it begins with the removal of the ANC government. Our railways are a clear demonstration of the measure of ANC governance and the reality that such improvements can only begin when the ANC is consigned to the opposition benches of our country. 

If South Africans want a party that rules out coalition with the ANC, make ActionSA bigger. 

If South Africans want a party with clear plans to address our infrastructure, make ActionSA bigger. 

If South Africans want the kind of leadership that gets the trains moving, make ActionSA bigger. 

If South Africans want corruption to be defeated, make ActionSA bigger. 

If South Africans want change, they will have to vote differently. Make ActionSA bigger. 

Issued by ActionSA Team FixSA Member for Infrastructure Michael Beaumont