Transport minister Barbara Creecy has tabled an ambitious plan to revitalise SA’s transport sector, including a R66.1bn medium-term allocation to the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) for rail modernisation. The recovery of 35 out of 40 passenger rail corridors, and improvements in rolling stock, should be acknowledged and commended.
But for all the rousing imagery of cranes lifting freight at ports and rail networks humming back to life, a persistent squeak disrupts the reverie: neither Prasa nor Transnet has yet accounted for their central role in the near total collapse of passenger and freight rail in SA.
Between these two state-owned entities (SOEs), more than R180bn was looted between 2010 and 2019. The Zondo state capture commission laid bare how political operatives like Brian Molefe, Lucky Montana and Malusi Gigaba facilitated state capture, siphoning billions via fraudulent tenders and sham procurement deals. The Guptas exploited Transnet’s procurement of locomotives and Prasa’s modernisation programme — all documented, under oath, in the Zondo commission’s final reports.
This industrial-scale looting led directly to the collapse of rail, pushing freight to trucks and passengers to minibus taxis and private cars — with devastating consequences: traffic congestion, carbon emissions, road deaths and multibillion-rand damage to road infrastructure.
As if the picture were not bleak enough, Transnet alone is more than R99bn in debt, and in May Moody’s delivered a grim prognosis of three months without a substantial government bailout. The government duly handed over R51bn (an even more handsome sum than the R47bn gifted in 2023.)
In a statement at the time the transport department said: “The government will monitor the performance of Transnet to ensure it provides adequate support to it as it implements the reforms required by the government.”
This commitment does not inspire the confidence and reassurance it was presumably intended to. At this point it is preposterous to entrust this government with oversight responsibilities over itself.
This is the same entity that spent R2bn on private security in 2023, yet still lost over 1,000km of cable during that year (Transnet 2023 annual report). That contract, awarded to a firm under investigation for tender fraud at Eskom, resulted in only 17 reported arrests. That’s about R116m per arrest, with no known convictions.
Compare this to the Gautrain: a privately operated system with 75% lower security spend and virtually no cable theft. Clearly, private-sector discipline works.
So, while Creecy’s openness to public-private partnerships is encouraging — especially her comments about creating a more competitive and transparent environment for third-party operators — there’s no timeline and no clear indication that SOEs will relinquish real control. Without that, reform will remain a pipe dream.
Here in Cape Town the findings from our rail feasibility study on devolving passenger rail operations to municipal level confirm what we already know: competent local authorities are better placed to deliver responsive, transparent transport services — especially through public-private-partnerships under strict regulatory oversight.
The City of Cape Town has achieved clean audits year after year — the only metro in the country to do so in 2022/23, when the auditor-general described the administration as a “pocket of excellence”.
What we need now is for the national government to empower capable cities. Trust us with real authority. Let us build real partnerships. We do not need another R66bn pumped into SOEs unless it comes with monthly public updates, independent audits and zero tolerance for political interference.
During her budget vote debate, Creecy said SOEs operated in a “challenging environment.” That’s an outrageously charitable way of describing what the Zondo commission called “grand corruption”.
Creecy also said reform required leadership that “prioritises the interests of our country and its people”. I hope she means it, because South Africans simply cannot afford another body blow in the transport sector. Those who are already forking out about 40% of their income to pay for transport will fall under the wheel of the exponentially rising cost of living.
The DA’s Cape Town proves that clean governance works. The ANC’s Prasa proves looting pays. We will soon see whether the sector under Creecy’s leadership will chart a new path forward, working together with cities and private partners — or repeat the collapse SA can no longer afford.
• Quintas is Cape Town mayoral committee member for urban mobility.
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