By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider 

Finance MEC Lebogang Maile has officially confirmed that it will now be turned over to the provincial government and will assume full ownership of the railway system at the end of March. 

The Gautrain which was established 16 years ago will be handed over to the government as a fully paid asset. The high-speed railway system was initially developed through a private-public partnership deal. 

The Finance MEC explained that since the Gauteng government has fully paid off its portion of the Gautrain debt, it will now assume full ownership. “When we built Gautrain, we spent R26 billion. Today, it’s worth anything between R45 billion and R53 billion. So that’s the power of public-private partnerships” said Maile also highlighting that plans to expand are very much in the works.

 “We will, by the end of March, through the Premier, announce the preferred bidder for the new concession. The process is at an advanced stage, and we are happy that Gautrain is one of the PPPs that have been successful” Maile added.

 Maile also highlighted that the provincial government is at an advanced stage in terms of appointing a preferred bidder for the next concession period, that will manage the system’s operations in the coming years and will be announced on 28 March. 

Maile added that the Gautrain is one of the country’s most successful PPP projects (Private-Public Partnerships) highlighting that its financial growth and its well structured operational stability provides a benchmark for future public service entities. 

“We are happy that Gautrain is one of the PPPs that have been successful. It demonstrates that if we look at programmes such as scholar transport and implement them using that model, we can achieve a great deal” said Maile. 

Maile also mentioned that there is looming pressure to improve Gauteng’s public infrastructure, specifically in education as he noted that the province continues to experience population growth. “We have a budget, but it will never be enough, because every year more children are coming to Gauteng. We need to build more than 100 schools in the province” Maile highlighted.