Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy has urged the board of Transnet to prioritise the recovery of freight logistics and indicated that the government might interrogate the State-owned logistics firms Recovery Plan after its losses widened.
Transnet on Monday reported a loss that widened from R5.1 billion last year to R7.3bn in the year to March, mainly due to the high court ruling that it must pay Total SA and Sasol about R6bn after the petroleum companies accused it of breaching a 1991 pricing contract.
Creecy attended the Transnet Annual General Meeting AGM on Monday in her capacity as the new shareholder representative for the government, and underscored the urgent need for Transnet to intensify its efforts to revitalise the countrys freight logistics sector.
To drive inclusive growth, Creecy said the country needed an efficient freight rail network to carry minerals, agricultural produce and manufactured goods to market.
Faced with declining freight capacity and long waiting times for ships at under-performing ports, Transnet last year developed a recovery plan, which stabilised the sector and improved freight carrying capacity to 149 million tons and reduced waiting times at ports.
