Transnet bail-out lauded by freight association

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The South African Association of Freight Forwarders has applauded government for realising what they call a crisis plaguing state owned freight and transport utility Transnet.

This after the National Treasury announced earlier that Transnet will receive a bail-out to the tune of R47- billion to alleviate its debt.

The entity has suffered significant operational, financial and governance challenges in recent times and is struggling to fulfill its strategic role.

Mike Walwyn is the Director of Maritime Affairs at the South African Association of Freight Forwarders.

“What is good is to see government recognising the immediate urgency of this thing, this is a real crisis and it’s a very urgent one. As far as the number is concerned, about half of it is to settle I think what they call immediate requirements and that I would imagine is servicing some debt and possibly some ordinary cash flow requirements. What do they need to make the ports work properly? Difficult question to answer and we’ve been saying for some time that in our view, the only solution, longer term solution to this, is public- private partnerships, and I’m not talking about privatisation. It is successfully done in a number of other jurisdictions, particularly for example in Mozambique, there’s no reason why it can’t work here.”