R3,5 billion loan for Gautrain Management Agency

This was revealed by Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport, Dr Ismail Vadi, at a media briefing session at the Maslow Hotel in Sandton.

Vadi had previously announced that the Bombela Concession Company [BCC] had invited reputable and established suppliers to submit bids for the design, manufacture, supply and maintenance of 12 new multiple electrical units (train sets), and the design and construction of additional depot infrastructure for the Gautrain system.

Vadi said, “The Gauteng Provincial Government has engaged the DBSA… to provide loan capital for the new rolling stock procurement… ”

“The business case for the additional rolling stock is based on a self-funding mechanism. [Government] will use revenue from the Gautrain which comes from existing sources of funding within the current concession agreement with BCC, as well as funding from the increase in passenger capacity due to the additional rolling stock.”

He stated that the government was committed to ensuring the building of a reliable, integrated, safe, accessible and affordable public transport system for the whole province.

“The capital expenditure of approximately R3.5 billion for additional rolling stock and supporting infrastructure is expected to sustain 9 000 jobs in Gauteng. The total government revenue is expected to increase by an estimated R450 million,” Vadi said.

Meanwhile, Finance MEC Barbara Creecy also pledged her department’s support to the project. Creecy said, “We are very interested in what is happening in this project. We have DBSA as the finance partner, now we are looking for the rolling stock partner.”

Furthermore, GMA chief executive Jack van der Merwe said although Gautrain was a very technical project, it was also a socio-economic project. “It’s very technical project but there is a political will, and it’s socially economically viable and it’s financially viable,” Van der Merwe said.