Transnet's achieved stabilisation, foundation laid to unlock new mining growth, says chair

As an integral part of South Africa's freight logistics chain, state-owned Transnet is key in moving bulk minerals from mine to port and so on to international markets.

Top Transnet executives have been part of the conversation around the future of mining at the Investing in African Mining Indaba under way in Cape Town. CEO Michelle Phillips said during an interview that there will be no turning back from current annual railed volume levels of above 160-million tons, while reiterating that private sector participation will be central to achieving the “country target” of 250-million tons by 2030.

Speaking to Stephen Grootes from the Indaba, Transnet chair Dr Andile Sangqu echoes that they have made very good progress in terms of 'stabilising the ship', so to speak.

Sangqu emphasizes that they've had to ensure this is done in a manner which it is sustainable, and also make sure that the momentum that has been built is sustained, even though it might have still fallen short of what the customer expects.

"What we're saying is that if you look at the trajectory of Transnet, it is promising, and that has to be unpacked in terms of the various elements of our business (like rail and ports)."

"If we start with the ports for example, recall the congestion we had in November 2023 where we must have had 20-30 vessels that were ready to be offloaded but because of the state and the condition of our own infrastructure we were not able to do that expeditiously and efficiently. I'm happy to say that, since then, if you had to go to either Durban or Cape Town for instance there has been a significant improvement, and that has been achieved on the back of strong collaboration
with our customers, with industry players and with our employees."

It is on the back of this collaboration that Transnet has been able to register and embed the kind of turnaround that is being seen similarly with its rail programme, Sangqu goes on. Like Philips, he refers to the increase in tonnage that Transnet has been able to achieve: "If you start tracking where we were in 2023 and where we are now, there's significant improvement there."

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At the same time, they are also embarking on structural reforms, he says.

Sangqu notes that the stabilisation of Transnet has now been achieved, which means it is well positioned to be able to support the programme of economic recovery of the country.

"We are pleased to be part of these forward-looking conversations about what is in store for the economy of South Africa. We stand ready to have those conversations with the rest of the industry players... if you were to invite us as Transnet into that discussion two years ago we'd not have been ready, willing or prepared because our first order of bus was to stabilise it which we have now done."

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