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Creecy says rail must compete with road freight

Published

Transport Minister Barbara Creecy said rising fuel and road transport costs make it necessary for rail to compete with road freight. She spoke at the South African Railways Association conference in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

Creecy said government is committed to rehabilitating rail. She said this would cut carbon emissions and ease transport costs for households and businesses. She also said more rail use, with diesel prices high, can help freight rail compete with trucking.

Officials from two neighbouring countries described their own rail plans. Zimbabwe's Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development, Joshua Sacco, said Zimbabwe is slowly moving from road freight to rail because of a boom in its commodities.

Bright Kuwembe, Malawi's Secretary for Transport and Public Works, said rail is vital to Malawians because road transport costs a lot. He said a South African company has shown interest in helping rebuild and run the Malawi line. Malawi has rebuilt 49 kilometers of line so far, from Blantyre towards the Mozambique border.

Key facts

Who
Barbara Creecy (Transport Minister); Joshua Sacco (Zimbabwe's Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development); Bright Kuwembe (Malawi Secretary for Transport and Public Works); Transnet (South African rail entity)
What
Creecy said rising fuel and road transport costs make it necessary to make rail compete with road freight, and that government is committed to rehabilitating rail. Officials from Zimbabwe and Malawi also described rail revival plans in their countries.
When
20 October 2026
Where
Johannesburg, South Africa, Eswatini
Status
Reported

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