Calls for Sishen-Saldanha Ore Rail Link to be Privatised

[John Ashworth]

IZA Africa Desk Calls For Sishen-Saldanha Ore Rail Link To Be Privatised And Expanded

a key input to competitive zinc ore concentrate supply is determined by the cost of transporting the ore to the nearest refinery or port. At present, there is a State-owned railway line running from Sishen in the Northern Cape to Saldanha in the Western Cape. “Why should this line be used exclusively used by one company? Privatising the Sishen-Saldanha line is a very hot topic. The line, opened in 1976 for use by the former State-owned Iscor, has since become used by a single JSE-listed company that is the sole beneficiary of a rail link paid for by South African taxpayers,” argues Simon Norton from the Africa Desk of the International Zinc Association (IZA)...