Transnet gets R47bn for infrastructure upgrades

SOME 40% of the R372 billion in state investment announced by President Thabo Mbeki last week in his State of the Nation Address will go to public enterprises, deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has revealed. And Transnet and Eskom will be the major beneficiaries. Transnet will spend R47 billion, with R40 billion of this going to harbours, ports, railways and a petroleum pipeline. The Airports Company of South Africa will spend R5.2 billion on airport improvement and the Dube Trade Port, while R19.7 billion will go to water infrastructure. With South Africa’s unemployment rate at 26.7%, the infrastructure programme will also focus on creating and sustaining jobs, and addressing a “maintenance backlog”.