LETTER: Transnet needs China’s speed-train expertise
The company procured locomotives that do not fit SA's rail system
The mind boggles how embattled former Transnet CEO Siyabonga Gama was paid R7.6m a year. The company is facing allegations of irregularities in the tender of 1,064 locomotives, including allegations that the Gupta family received kickbacks for it. And, to boot, the locomotives do not fit SA’s rail system. There is certainly no full steam ahead. The Chinese can build a high-speed railway line between Shanghai and Beijing of 1,300km — about the same distance between Johannesburg and Cape Town. The travel time in China is four hours and 18 minutes, and the average speed of the train is 300km/h. I could leave Johannesburg in the morning, have a surf in Cape Town, lunch in Franschhoek and be back by 10pm. Bring the Chinese expertise in railroad technology to SA and make Transnet a showcase for Africa and the world. Presently, Transnet is trackless as road logistics companies are having their breakfast, lunch, dinner and meal ticket 24/7, 365 days a year. Eckehardt FicinusDunkeld
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