{"id":88469,"date":"2025-08-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/logistics\/2025\/08\/26\/south-africa-shortlists-private-firms-to-operate-freight-rail-network\/"},"modified":"2025-08-26T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T00:00:00","slug":"south-africa-shortlists-private-firms-to-operate-freight-rail-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/logistics\/2025\/08\/26\/south-africa-shortlists-private-firms-to-operate-freight-rail-network\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa shortlists private firms to operate freight-rail network"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Africa has shortlisted 11 private firms to manage its state-owned <\/strong>freight-rail network<\/strong>, Bloomberg<\/a> reported on Friday. The shortlisted companies will now enter negotiations with South Africa\u2019s rail operator, Transnet, for the management of its 41 routes and six corridors. The selected firm (or consortium) will be granted a 10-year operating license, but the government will retain ownership of the assets. <\/p>\n

Big plans: <\/strong>Transnet is hoping to secure the private sector\u2019s participation as part of a push<\/a> to boost its freight capacity by an extra 20 mn tons of freight per year in FY 2026-2027 \u2014 aligning with the country\u2019s target to increase rail transport capacity by 70 mn tons to reach 250 mn by 2029. <\/p>\n

Why does South Africa want Transnet out of the picture? <\/strong>South Africa\u2019s government has been trying to end Transnet\u2019s monopoly over the 21.2k km network for years<\/a> as the firm struggled with mismanagement, allegations of corruption, and dropping cargo volumes. Transnet could not afford the investments needed to upgrade the rail network, forcing the government to approve a USD 5.4 bn<\/a> (ZAR 95 bn) in credit assurance against default for debts in the next five years, on top of the previously pledged USD 3 bn (ZAR 51 bn).<\/p>\n

REMEMBER- Regional players have been eyeing South Africa and its ports:<\/strong> Red Sea Gateway Terminal International (RSGTI) is mulling a Transnet tender to develop and operate one of its fresh produce terminals at Durban port<\/a> \u2014 and was set to make a USD 600 mn+<\/a> offer for the port. DP World is also considering investing<\/a> in Transnet\u2019s partial privatization, including USD 3 bn in Africa\u2019s new port infrastructure over the next five years. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stories on our radar this morning from around the world<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":88470,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[149],"tags":[148,251,121],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-88469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-around-the-world","tag-around-the-world","tag-freight-forwarding","tag-rail","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"fe8caddc-a888-4cd5-9729-686aaa9c199b","order":"10","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"1","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2025\/8\/1558.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"South Africa shortlists private firms to operate freight-rail network","related_issue":[88453],"teaser":"Stories on our radar this morning from around the world","voice_url":"https:\/\/s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/ent.news\/audio\/2025\/8\/.41b48145-aa34-4d3f-923a-a11929d6a59f.mp3"},"yoast_head":"\nSouth Africa shortlists private firms to operate freight-rail network - 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