Industry hails reforms but further recovery hinges on well-executed strategy

The Department of Transport’s efforts to open the freight rail network to private operators is gaining momentum, but restoring capacity, securing investments and translating policy changes into reliable services remain critical to unlocking the rail sector’s economic potential. South Africa’s rail recovery also presents a fundamental challenge in that government urgently needs to restore a logistics system which has recently suffered from severe bottlenecks, while ensuring that the reforms intended to achieve this create a commercially sustainable and competitive freight market.