8th May 2023
For the first time in history and as part of an elaborate turnaround strategy, Botswana Railways (BR) trains will soon be steaming deep into South Africa and Zimbabwean territory.
Prior to 1987, the National Railway of Zimbabwe (NRZ) operated trains in Botswana and with the coming info effect of the Botswana Railways Act, BR came into being and took over. BR’s passenger and goods trains operated between Mahikeng in South Africa and Plumtree, a Zimbabwean border town. From what BR’s Acting Chief Executive Officer, Chelesile Malele, reveals in court papers for a case that came before the Gaborone Industrial Court, that arrangement is about to change.
According to her, BR has signed a work-through arrangement with NRZ which will permit BR’s trains to haul freight all the way up to Bulawayo. In terms of the current arrangement, BR trains can only go as far as Plumtree. In turn, BR will permit NRZ trains to haul freight up to Francistown. This will be the first time Zimbabwe’s train have crossed over into Botswana.
Similar arrangement has been made with South Africa’s Transnet Freight Rail and in terms of this particular arrangement, BR trains will haul freight up to Krugersdorp, a mining city northwest of Johannesburg – South Africa’s industrial heartland.
Going back to last year, BR has been in the most dire of financial straits and resultantly, has not been able to pay its employees on time. In response, the Botswana Transport and General Workers Union (BTGWU) hauled the organisation before the Industrial Court for contravening the contractual agreement it has with its employees. In pleading BR’s case, Malele revealed what her organisation is doing to improve financial performance. That was the context within which she came to reveal plans for BR to work extended sections of the NRZ and TFR rail lines.
BR has not operated any passenger train service since November 2019 ,when a south-bound passenger train derailed near Mahalapye when attempting to negotiate a water-logged section of the rail line. Two crew members died, and the coaches were badly damaged.
Given how cash-strapped the state-owned and perpetually state-dependent enterprise currently is, it will be some time before the passenger train is brought back to service.
However, there could be a complication with regard to BR’s plans to go deeper into South Africa. BTGWU’s General Secretary, Thapelo Molefe, says that management has never consulted the Union (whose members will be the ones manning the trains) on the issue. His particular concern is that with the xenophobia that is currently gripping South Africa, it would be an extremely bad idea to send Batswana-manned trains to Krugersdorp.
“Going there would be suicide, and as a union, we need to be consulted intensively,” says Molefe, adding that the Botswana and South African governments would themselves have to consult “at a high level” to eliminate any danger that could arise from the xenophobia.
South Africa’s xenophobia has indeed reached crisis levels and in some tragic cases, foreigners have lost their lives. It used to be that South Africans didn’t have a problem with Batswana, but that has changed because there is a very strong feeling that the latter are stealing jobs from South African citizens.
Source: https://www.sundaystandard.info/br-trains-to-haul-freight-up-to-bulawayo-krugersdorp/
