State-owned Transnet and mining industry organisation Minerals Council South Africa have agreed to collaborate to ensure operational improvements across the freight system to get back to target performance levels in the short term and then to position for growth in the future.

The organisations held frank and open discussions on August 23, with a specific focus on challenges and solutions and with the aim of ensuring Transnet is able to stabilise operations, recover to planned target levels this year and enable the mining sector to take advantage of the current commodity upswing.

“This would have the benefit of greater revenue generation for both Transnet and its mining customers, and their respective contribution to the growth and competitiveness of the South African economy,” the companies said in a joint statement.

The Minerals Council represents all of Transnet’s largest customers in the mining sector, as well as most of the smaller mining companies.

Transnet’s focus on greater collaboration between its operating divisions, specifically Transnet Freight Rail and Port Terminals, aims to improve efficiencies across the value chain, for the benefit of customers.

Transnet and the council have committed to establishing smaller working teams focused on the different commodity groups by corridor to address corridor-specific issues and to better engage on annual maintenance shutdowns to ensure improved planning and to leverage support from the mining sector where Transnet experiences constraints.

Further, the organisations will collectively work to ensure faster recovery from derailments and jointly address the issue of syndicated organised crime, including copper theft and illegal mining, and seeking support and intervention from government.

Additionally, they acknowledged the need to collaborate more closely on security issues for the implementation of technologies to reduce theft and vandalism of infrastructure.

The details of this will be discussed further and finalised with the industry, the two organisations said in an August 24 joint statement.

The organisations' leaders met as part of ongoing engagements to ensure operational improvements on the network. They were joined by Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan.

“We are firmly of the view that the mining sector and Transnet are joined at the hip. It is crucial for us to collaborate and realise real synergies that grow export volumes, promote greater investment and growth in mining, and which grows Transnet’s revenue streams and sustainability.

"The workshop was a meaningful step in concretising cooperation and taking South Africa forward,” said Minerals Council president Nolitha Fakude.

“We have a shared interest in ensuring that we collaborate to better deliver on our respective mandates and move the South African economy forward,” Transnet Group CE Portia Derby added.