Drones to be used to secure rail?

With the threat of cargo theft
growing in South Africa,
Transnet Freight Rail (TFR)
is exploring the possibility of
deploying drones along certain
rail routes.
“We are working with
defence technology company
Denel to explore the option –
not only to prevent theft but to
better identify hotspots,” said
Vincent Matabane, senior risk
manager at TFR.
Speaking at the Transport
Forum Special Interest Group
(SIG) meeting in Johannesburg
last week, Matabane pointed
out that the rail authority’s
spend on security measures
had tripled in the last three
years, which had led to “lots
of improvements” to TFR’s
security record.
He was reluctant to elaborate
further but added that the
number of security personnel
had also been tripled since
2012.
“Our own internal
intelligence is focused on
cutting down on the cost of
security risk and, as such,
has deployed a number of
information technology (IT)
innovations to provide key
data and risk analysis reports
to help us work smarter,” said
Matabane.
Highlighting the country’s
“severe” cargo theft risk,
head of the Department of
Transport and Supply Chain
Management at the University
of Johannesburg, professor
Jackie Walters, told delegates
that more than 800 truck
hijackings had occurred in
South Africa last year.
He pointed to the latest
FreightWatch Global Cargo
Theft Risk: Threat Assessment
report which revealed that
Mexico, Brazil, South Africa,
the United States and Russia
were the countries most at risk
for cargo theft globally.
CAPTION
TFR senior risk manager, Vincent Matabane.