22 Apr 2018

Minister of Transport and Communications, Mr Kitso Mokaila says the proposed railway line corridor between Botswana and Mozambique will be a reality in the near future.

Briefing the media on his ministry’s projects and challenges on April 19, during a televised press conference, Minister Mokaila said whilst the three respective countries involved already have railway lines on the particular route, the only remaining thing was to upgrade and connect the lines.

The railway line is expected to link Francistown in Botswana to Bulawayo in Zimbabwe and the Mozambican port of Techobanine to facilitate enhanced regional trade.

Minister Mokaila said the construction of the railway line, which was a tripartite agreement between Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, would assist Botswana to access the Indian Ocean through Mozambique.

He said currently Botswana was experiencing congestion in ports such as those in Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town hence the importance of opening an additional route to enhance trade.

The minister further stated that Zimbabwe has already identified a private company from China which would assist in the construction of the envisaged railway line.

In 2016 the three countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the project, and it was expected that upon completion the venture would facilitate inter-regional trade through the movement of passenger rail traffic and up to 12 million tonnes of goods per annum through the three countries.

According to that MoU, each country is expected to provide US$200 million towards the cost of the project with the rest of the work to be done through Public-Private partnerships (PPPs).

Minister Mokaila also said Botswana Railways was in the process of introducing passenger rail services as evidenced by the reintroduction of the Gaborone/Lobatse route.

He said this was because high public transport demand had been the cornerstone of the decision, adding that about 40 000 to 44 000 new cars were registered on a yearly basis in Botswana hence high traffic congestion on the roads.

On other issues, Minister Mokaila said the government had agreed to increase the value of the national airline (Air Botswana) by buying additional aircraft, but did not disclosed how much the project would cost government.

He said government took the decision so that whoever wanted to buy the airline would find it in a good position for price negotiation.

He also said the move would help save employment for the airline workers and diversify the economy, adding that the national airline was also expected to open new routes in Botswana and Southern Africa in the near future.

He sighted the Gaborone/Cape Town route because currently OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg was congested, saying that a new jet, which was expected to arrive in three months’ time, would be used in the new route.

On other issues, minister Mokaila explained that the ministry would improve on its project management capabilities in order to address challenges that were bedevilling the ministry.

He said one such challenge included late completion and handing of mega projects such as construction of roads, corrupt practices within some ministry departments such the Roads Department.

He said it was an open secret that corruption was rife in the ministry departments, and that the ministry was working round the clock to address the problem which would see stern measures being taken against wrong doers and those contractors that delivered projects late.

The minister also informed the press that ever since the increase in transport fares, he had been using combis and taxis to get first-hand information on the efficiency of public transport operators, and that the feedback was still disheartening because there was no change in their behaviour and time efficiency.

The permanent secretary in the ministry, Mr Kabelo Ebineng also agreed with minister Mokaila that some ministry departments were not performing up to the required standard in terms of service delivery. ENDS