The abandoned and vandalised Centurion Metrorail station, 10 September 2020, Pretoria. Photo: The Citizen/Jacques Nelles
The 21 000km rail network is the product of a series of mistakes going back 165 years, including selecting the wrong gauge for optimal efficiency and repeated violations of political promises to run the network on business rather than political principles. Speaking at a recent Aria media presentation, Havenga estimated that 28% of domestic mining produce, 20% of manufactured goods and 28% of palletised goods currently travelling on roads could be shifted to rail.
Havenga previously pointed out that SA’s general freight volumes have dropped to levels last seen during World War II – roughly 50 Mt a year. Progress in fixing the rail network has been debated ad nauseum for the last 14 years, yet there seems very little action in implementing a rail policy that has already been gazetted.
It will cost 3 times that, with a full Enquiry Commission that will cost another few Billion.
And all this happened under the watch of Mr Fear Fokol, Fix Fokol who gets promoted to some high insignificant position in the comrades institution 🤮🤮🤮
The ANC has, for all intents and purposes, economy-wise (metaphorically speaking) taken us back to 'Square One' (1652). No train tracks, no electricity, no roads, no jobs, no cistern toilets.