Swaziland calls for direct Gauteng rail link

New locomotives a priority JAMES HALL MBABANE – At a gala celebration commemorating 40 years in business, Swaziland Railway CEO Gideon Mahlalela called for the purchase of the company’s own locomotives for the near future, and Swaziland’s transport minister reiterated the need for a direct rail line to Gauteng. Complaining of the sub-par condition of the locomotives the company has been renting from South Africa since its inception, Mahlalela said, “In the past five years we have been experiencing failures in the locomotives, which are more than 30 years old. This is harming business.” For the occasion, guests travelled from the Matsapha Dry Port near the country’s key industrial park outside the central commercial centre Manzini to Mpaka in the eastern lowveld, where Swaziland’s principal coal mine produces the mineral that keeps the rail line in business. All of Swaziland’s coal is exported to South Africa by rail. Although passenger cars used to ferry guests were dilapidated, they were still a welcome novelty for a rail line devoted entirely to freight.This includes most recently the importation of raw materials used in garment manufacturing, and the export of the finished products to the port of Durban. Mahlalela said, “Our latest strategic review calls for Swaziland to buy her own locomotives, along with sugar wagons, all purpose wagons, and container wagons for the dry port.” Transportation Minister Elijah Shongwe said a feasibility study was underway for a western link connecting the company’s Matsapha Inland Container Depot with Gauteng. Shongwe said the direct route, replacing a northern link to Komatipoort, would make the railway a more vital player in the country’s export economy.