Construction of the Prasa/Gibela rolling stock manufacturing plant is under no threat and building will start next year in Donnotar.
This was the comment of Zweli Dlamini, the Ekurhuleni Metro’s mayoral spokesman, which is in contrast to what Chris Swanepoel, DA councillor in Ekurhuleni Metro, who seriously warned the metro to get its ducks in a row about this project.
Dlamini says people in Ekurhuleni have no reason to panic about the progress of the project so far and that the sod turning will take place in Donnotar early next year as the projections made at the launch of the project a few months ago.
Dlamini says the project is worth about R52-billion.
He says the metro regards this project as a major game-changer for Ekurhuleni.
“We expect the economy and living conditions of our people to improve tremendously.
“The fact that we are looking at about 22 000 direct and indirect jobs as a result of this project coming here, becomes a major motivator for the municipality to ensure its successful implementation,” says Dlamini.He was concerned that the DA would want to create panic about the project to be able to score cheap political points.
“They go on to mislead the public by claiming that they played some role in bringing this project to Ekurhuleni when this was purely an administrative process.
“In actual fact the municipality worked hard to ensure that Ekurhuleni was chosen as the home of the project,” says Dlamini.
The metro has already set up a task team for the stakeholders, whose role it is to facilitate the successful delivery of the project.
The website, www.gibela-rail.com says this manufacturing plant will construct the majority of the new rolling stock for Metro Rail in a two-phase replacement project, which initially includes 580 trains comprising 3 480 coaches.
Alongside the rolling stock contract, Gibela will also supply spare parts and provide maintenance and technical support on the coaches over a period of 19 years.
The first 20 trains and 120 coaches will be built at Alstom’s factory in Brazil while the manufacturing plant at Dunnotar is under construction, and will be ready for use at the end of next year.
The rest will be manufactured in Dunnotar from 2016 and be ready for delivery in 2017.
The website says this Gibela project is not simply a train replacement programme.
In addition to delivering modern, safe coaches that will transform rail into the transport of choice, Gibela will also act as a catalyst for transformation.
They will be addressing socio-economic challenges such as creating jobs, developing skills and uplifting the living standards of all those directly and indirectly affected by the project.
Spokesman for Gibela, Primella Radebe, confirmed that this plant will be erected in Donnotar.
She is currently in Brazil on a business trip and will provide further details on the plant in December.
