Gautrain battles to recover pre-pandemic commuter numbers

Gautrain is bleeding passengers — it has lost 5-million commuters in four years.

This was revealed by Lebogang Maile, Gauteng’s MEC for economic development, on Tuesday in his budget speech to the provincial legislature.

“The expansion of the Gautrain remains a strategic priority for the province, but its financial sustainability has come under increasing scrutiny,” said Maile.

“Ridership levels have yet to recover to pre-pandemic figures, with passenger numbers dropping from 13.9-million in the 2019/20 financial year to 7.9-million in 2023/24.”

In February, premier Panyaza Lesufi said plans to expand the Gautrain to areas in Soweto, Fourways, Mamelodi, Atteridgeville, Lanseria and Springs would cost R120bn and create 125,000 jobs. 

Though not contained in his budget speech, Maile told Sowetan that plans for the expansion were still under way. 

“Details, including the source of the funding and how it will be allocated, will be provided. But the principle of expansion remains,” he said. 

Maile said that despite passenger numbers dropping, the provincial government was on track to fully owning the train service by March next year. 

“We own it. We just appoint people to manage certain aspects because rail is not a provincial competence — we don’t have the capacity for signalling and other technical requirements. So, we bring in people with the necessary expertise to handle those aspects on our behalf. And it has been running efficiently.

“We have been repaying the private partners over time. By March next year, we will have fully paid it off and will own it 100%. This is an asset worth R45bn. It is a prime example of a successful public-private partnership,” said Maile. 

He said with the concession coming to an end, the government had started the process of appointing a new partnership. 

“The post-2026 Gautrain will also be procured via a public-private partnership. We are engaged in a procurement process to appoint a new concessionaire to operate and maintain the Gautrain into the future.”

Maile said in addition to the expansion of Gautrain, the provincial governments of Gauteng and Limpopo had agreed to facilitate a joint contribution towards the establishment of the Gauteng-Limpopo railway line to facilitate the movement of goods and people between the provinces.

Maile’s budget reflects an annual growth rate of 3%, increasing from R171.5bn in 2025/26 to R175.1bn in 2026/27, before reaching R180.5bn in 2027/28.

The department of health has been allocated a budget of R66bn, an increase of R1.2bn from the previous year. 

The department also received the largest share of conditional grants, increasing from R28.9bn in 2025/26 to R29.2bn in 2027/28.

Maile said in the next three years, the Gauteng treasury would spend R36.6bn on infrastructure sourced from provincial equitable shares and conditional grants. 

“Empirical evidence indicates that most of our infrastructure projects create employment. In terms of education infrastructure, it is anticipated that 13,436 jobs will be created on infrastructure projects in the 2025 MTEF [medium-term expenditure framework], while 12,653 jobs will be created on road infrastructure projects,” Maile said. 

He said there was concern that infrastructure spending in Gauteng had repeatedly fallen short. 

“This is owing to late project approvals, community disruptions, poor contractor performance, and inadequate planning capacity. This underspending has worsened unemployment and left critical projects stalled, including road maintenance and school infrastructure.” 

To tackle crime in the townships, the Gauteng department of e-government has been allocated R1.5bn for 2025/26 and R4.8bn over the MTEF to expand information and communications technology (ICT) connectivity across the province.

“The department will also be installing CCTV cameras in townships to strengthen the battle against crime, corruption, vandalism and lawlessness,” he said. 

Road infrastructure would be prioritised, he said, with the department of roads & transport being allocated R9.7bn for 2025/26 and R28bn over the MTEF to improve the province’s transport system, including fixing street lights and potholes.

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