South Africa has announced that it will be launching a train manufacturing factory at the Dunnottar Park in Nigel, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng province of the country on Thursday. The country’s Transport Minister Blade Nzimande will be launching the factory as a commemoration of South Africa’s Transport Month.
The train manufacturing factory, which cost about $75 million, is a 75-hectare site and contains a park for suppliers and a training school. The October Transport Month (the theme is ‘Together, we move South Africa Forward’) is celebrated by South Africa’s Department of Transport every year to demonstrate “service delivery and showcasing transport infrastructure and services.” These transport services include rail, road, maritime, aviation and public transport.
The Minister of Transport will be joined by his deputy Sindisiwe Chikunga, the Gauteng Province Premier David Makhura, and other key government officials. “This massive investment will include the local manufacturing of parts, maintenance, training facilities, the creation of jobs, skills development, the achievement of a 65% local content, and it will promote black economic empowerment and support communities” a statement from the Department of Transport read.
“The plant will deliver two new trains by December 2018, an approximation of nine trains by March 2019 and an estimated total of 56 trains over the next two years thereafter if bulk service challenges are overcome.”
There are hopes the new factory will provide solutions for the vandalism and burning of rail equipment and parts that have put a strain on South Africa’s rail system. The new manufacturing factory can help produce replacement spare parts for those lost due to vandalism, and reduce the strain on South Africa’s public rail system. The Department of Transport also says the manufacturing factory will reduce the challenges of overcrowding at train stations and “provide an affordable, efficient and reliable rail service.”
The train manufacturing factory took 2 years to complete, with construction having begun in January 2016, while manufacturing activities began in 2017. It is also hoped that the factory will go a long way in reducing the rate of youth unemployment in the country, which currently stands at 55.53 percent. Already, there are 635 full-time employees working at the factory;49 percent female and 51 percent male, with 90 percent of them black.
