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The Gautrain. Picture: GALLO IMAGES
The Gautrain. Picture: GALLO IMAGES

The Gautrain Management Agency (GMA) has patted itself on the back after it achieved its 12th consecutive clean audit in the 2023/24 financial year, a move board chair Mfanelo Ntsobi says underscores the agency’s commitment to running a “clean administration and managing public resources responsibly and transparently”. 

However, plans by the provincial government to expand the Gautrain network have been criticised by the Automobile Association of SA (AA), which said such an investment would be wasteful as it would not serve the broader public.

Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi said during his state of the province address in August that the government of provincial unity would, in less than two years, “invest R120bn in the expansion of Gautrain to the following areas: Soweto via Fourways, Mamelodi, Atteridgeville, Lanseria and Springs. The bid to construct these lines closes at the end of October this year.” 

Lesufi’s remarks followed sustained criticism by unions that the Gautrain project, which cost more than R30bn to construct, was not serving the province’s townships where the majority of workers live. 

The AA described the Gautrain as a financial train wreck , saying any expansion of the service “is wasteful expenditure on a service that doesn’t service the needs of most of Gauteng’s citizens”.

“In 2021 we made a detailed submission on the extension of the Gauteng Rapid Rail Integrated Network — Gautrain — and urged the provincial government to reject any extensions of the service, which we labelled a white elephant. In our view, any extensions perpetuate a system that caters for a minority of citizens who don’t need it at the expense of better public transport for the majority who need it most,” the AA said. 

It said the patronage guarantee, a mechanism whereby Bombela — the private concessionaire which operates Gautrain — is compensated for low ridership levels on its trains, “remains one of the biggest issues facing the extensions and should be addressed properly before any further work on the service is done”. 

“According to the Gautrain Management Agency’s 2024 integrated annual report, the Gauteng department of roads & transport paid Bombela R2.79bn in the 2023-2024 financial year, and R2.37bn in the 2022-2023 financial year in the form of the patronage guarantee ‘due to the actual revenue and ridership being significantly below the minimum required total revenue projections’.”

The AA said the Gautrain failed to deliver on its ridership projections from the outset and now the burden of funding fell on taxpayers. 

“They are, in effect, subsidising a system that caters to the elite who are already mobile. “In addition, there is a lack of reliable, sustainable, affordable and safe public transport for the majority of the province’s citizens, many of whom must walk to their destinations because they have no alternative.” 

Responding to the AA, GMA spokesperson Albi Modise said the agency could account for all public funds it had been allocated as it had a disciplined approach to financial management and good governance.

“Poorer communities are located far away from employment and opportunities. Therefore, we are looking at the extension of the Gauteng Rapid Rail Integrated Network, which will expand the Gautrain network to the townships of Mamelodi and Soweto, as well as other economic hubs. This will address the very challenge that the AA is complaining about — that it ‘doesn’t service the needs of most of Gauteng’s citizens,” he said. 

 “Gautrain is a strategic national asset valued at R45bn connecting the three metros in the province with a quantifiable economic impact of R2.60 for every rand invested. ,” Modise said. 

Furthermore, he said, it was estimated that R46bn total GDP impact had been added to the Gauteng provincial government economy and a total of 245 000 jobs had been created due to property development induced by the Gautrain. 

mkentanel@businesslive.co.za

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