The existing project pipeline, which is dominated by initiatives to recapitalise the rail business through the acquisition of new locomotives and wagons, is scheduled to be delivered over five-years between 2011 and 2016. However, according to Socikwa, group CEO Brian Molefe has instructed his divisional CEOs to consider ways of expanding the programme to around R220-billion over a seven-year period ending 2018. Socikwa stresses that discussions are still under way and that any plan to scale up the investment programme will still require approval of the group's board.
Molefe has previously indicated that South Africa's freight logistics system needs to be materially expanded to accommodate the New Growth Path, which aims to facilitate the creation of five-million new jobs by 2020. In addition, Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba has stressed that there is a need to invest beyond levels that the Transnet balance sheet can currently accommodate, suggesting new financing models, including public-private partnerships (PPPs). According to Engineering News, Molefe has established a PPP desk in a bid to understand the implications of such partnerships on Transnet.
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