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R1bn investment towards Transnet manufactured locomotive

Transnet Freight Rail CEO Siyabonga Gama and Transnet CEO Brian Molefe discuss becoming a locomotive OEM. Cameraperson: Nichoals Boyd.

11th April 2014

By: David Oliveira

Creamer Media Staff Writer

  

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State-owned rail operator Transnet is dedicating about R1-billion of its R307-billion Market Demand Strategy (MDS) towards research and development for the manufacture of its own locomotives, Transnet group CEO Brian Molefe said at the company’s R50-billion supplier announcement, in March.

He added that the investment would assist in developing its engineering arm, Transnet Engineering (TE), into an original-equipment manufacturer (OEM).

“TE has established a dedicated research and development unit dedicated to this goal, at the Council for Scientific Research (CSIR), in Pretoria,” he pointed out, adding that Transnet has signed a cooperation agreement with the CSIR.

“We have a team of engineers working on a Transnet locomotive and we believe that by the end of the MDS, we will have sufficient knowledge to become an OEM,” Molefe asserted.

Transnet is also making a R300-million capital investment towards upgrading TE’s facilities in Durban and Koedoespoort, in Pretoria. “This investment will assist us in developing TE into an OEM, specifically focused on assembling and manufacturing locomotives for the rest of Africa,” said Transnet Freight Rail CEO Siyabonga Gama.

Molefe commented that Transnet is dedicated to developing South African rail capabilities, which will enable it to participate in the development that will take place in the African railway industry.

“The significance of today is that we have identified partners that will assist us in becoming an OEM for future sales to the rest of the continent and to other parts of the world,” he enthused.

He added that Transnet is already an internationally recognised brand through its past rail equipment sales to Australia, India and countries in South America and the Middle East.

Edited by Megan van Wyngaardt
Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

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