The State-owned Transnet Academy has concluded a five-year partnership agreement with the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the University of Pretoria (UP), which will help it to enhance technical capacity, develop reliable safety standards and deliver superior customer service.

The Faculty of Rail within the Transnet Academy will offer accredited training programmes in railway engineering, operations, projects, occurrence investigation and safety through the partnership.

This will enable Transnet’s engineers and technicians to attain and maintain their professional registration with the Engineering Council of South Africa, and will also improve safety performance, as well as develop essential rail network infrastructure maintenance skills, Transnet says.

UP has, thus far, conducted seven independent investigations on Level 1 and 2 incidents to determine trends and recommend solutions to augment the current controls for Transnet Freight Rail as part of the agreement, the railway operator notes.

The relationship with UP has seen 3 307 Transnet employees graduating from the rail Occurrence Investigation Programme since its inception in 2013.

“This partnership will further amplify the number of employees qualified in this respect.

“By addressing skills deficiencies, enhancing employee productivity and fostering a culture of continuous learning, Transnet moves to build a more capable and engaged workforce, thus providing the necessary support to the Transnet Recovery Plan,” says Transnet Group chief of people management and learning Tumi Matsheka.

Transnet is committed to skills development to improve productivity, quality and competitiveness. This aligns with the Transnet Academy’s objective of improving the development and training levels of South Africans and creating long-term socioeconomic growth and prosperity.