SACOTA & Transnet Industry Workshop: 27 January 2022

It is well known that Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) is currently experiencing severe challenges to move sufficient maize from the production areas – mainly the eastern Free State and southern parts of Mpumalanga – to Durban. Its share of volume transported is only 20-22%, while it should at least be 35%. The workshop’s main objective was for the maize industry, together with TFR, to jointly find solutions to the problems. The two main problems identified were cable theft and locomotives. However, Cable theft was identified as the immediate problem and a problem that may quickly be resolved by working together. The problem is not only a TFR problem, and since large tracks of railway lines run through farmlands, the industry believes that it could contribute to addressing the problem.

The workshop was well attended, apart from the SACOTA exporting members and TFR staff delegates from TPT Agriport, SABT, VKB, Afgri, OVK, NAMC, SAGIS, NCM, Agbiz, GrainSA and AFMA also attended.