Photo by: Duane Daws
JOHANNESBURG – Transnet announced on Monday the implementation of a series of governance, control and monitoring measures to ensure the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) meet the company’s stringent localisation obligations and supplier development commitments.
Transnet Group CEO Siyabonga Gama said: “Enforcement of local content obligations is a DTi (department of trade and industry) responsibility, but the company is taking concrete and bold steps to ensure that development of local engineering and manufacturing industry is prioritised.”
Transnet was awarded what is now South Africa’s single biggest infrastructure investment initiative by a corporate, and is constantly monitoring progress by all the OEMs who were awarded the more than R50-billion contract.
In addition to the normal governance structures, Transnet set up a special sub-committee of the executive committee chaired by the group chief executive, and attended by executives tasked with the execution of the project, including the group chief financial officer, chief executive of Transnet Freight Rail and Transnet Engineering (TE) and heads of procurement, legal and risk.
Gama said the committee was tasked with providing oversight, identity risks and approving appropriate mitigation actions for the locomotives build programme.
To ensure integrity of information and compliance with various aspects of the agreements, one of South Africa’s big four auditing firms were appointed as governance and performance monitors on the entire project.