Beyond policy: What <a href="https://usglobalxpress.com/adnoc-distribution-buys-shells-south-africa-downstream-business-in-1-billion-deal/” title=”Adnoc Distribution buys Shell’s South Africa downstream business in $1 billion deal”>South Africa‘s transport reforms mean for business, investment
South Africa is positioning itself to play a much bigger role in the global critical minerals economy. A new partnership between the Council for Geoscience and European partners aims to improve geological mapping, attract investment and strengthen the country’s role in supplying the minerals needed for the global energy transition. CNBC Africa is joined by Mathetha Mokonyama, Spokesperson, Southern African Transport Conference.
Tue, 07 Jul 2026 11:29:53 GMT
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Key Points:
- The Southern African Transport Conference says South Africa already knows what is needed to modernize transport and logistics.
- Industry experts argue that the main barriers are leadership gaps, slow implementation and procurement systems that are not suited to innovation.
- Mokonyama said rigid procurement rules can delay the rollout of technologies such as electric buses and supporting infrastructure.
- Alternative models such as design-build-operate-transfer partnerships could help accelerate infrastructure delivery.
- Leadership at boards and executive level is critical, particularly across the 20 entities overseen by South Africa’s transport ministry.
- Stop-start capital programs in passenger transport and logistics create delays and raise opportunity costs for the economy.
- Mokonyama called for shorter legislative turnaround times and more responsive policymaking from transport and finance committees.
- Transport reform is seen as essential to supporting South Africa’s competitiveness, infrastructure investment and critical minerals ambitions.
Topics
South Africa transport reformlogisticsinfrastructure investmentprocurement legislationSouthern African Transport Conferencecritical mineralsenergy transitionTransnetEskompublic-private partnerships
South Africa’s push to strengthen its role in the global critical minerals economy will depend not only on geological mapping and investor outreach, but also on whether the country can fix long-standing transport and logistics bottlenecks that weigh on growth, competitiveness and infrastructure delivery
That was the central message from Matheta Mokonyama, spokesperson for the Southern African Transport Conference (SATC), who said the country already has the technical knowledge, policy tools and research base needed to modernize the sector, but continues to be slowed by weak implementation, stop-start investment cycles and a legislative environment that is often not suited to innovation
Speaking in the context of South Africa’s broader economic positioning, Mokonyama said the transport sector has accumulated decades of expertise that can help guide infrastructure planning, logistics reform and investment decisions. The SATC, now in its 44th year, brings together researchers, practitioners, universities and policymakers from around the world, with 20 countries represented at this year’s gathering
According to Mokonyama, the value the conference brings is a deep body of evidence-based research that can be used to inform policy, assess what has worked and what has failed, and shape the future of transport, logistics and infrastructure leadership in South Africa and the broader region
Still, he argued that the core challenge is no longer a lack of ideas
“The good thing is that we know what to do,” Mokonyama said. “We know where to go.”
In his view, the bigger problem is whether South Africa has the enabling leadership and institutional environment to translate that know-how into action. He said more than 700 professionals engaged through the conference have written extensively about practical solutions and implementation pathways, but too often those recommendations stall before delivery
A key obstacle, he said, is procurement legislation. Mokonyama argued that existing rules can make it difficult to adopt new technologies or modernize transport systems at the pace required by the economy. He cited electric buses as an example, saying that even where the long-term efficiency and user-cost benefits are clear, the lead times involved in ordering fleets and building the supporting infrastructure can stretch over years
That timeline, he said, becomes even harder to manage when procurement systems are rigid and not designed to support innovation or long-term transition planning
Mokonyama pointed to alternative delivery models such as design-build-operate-transfer structures, commonly used in toll road projects, as examples of more progressive procurement approaches that could help government and the private sector move faster. Such frameworks, he suggested, could support a 20-year transition toward more advanced transport technologies and operating models
“The legislative environment, especially procurement, is not fit for purpose,” he said
His comments come as policymakers and investors increasingly focus on the links between infrastructure efficiency and industrial growth. South Africa’s ambitions in critical minerals, energy transition supply chains and export competitiveness all rely heavily on the ability to move goods, develop corridors and maintain reliable service delivery across rail, ports, roads and urban mobility networks
Mokonyama also underscored the role of leadership in turning around state-linked transport entities. Drawing a parallel with Eskom, he referenced comments made at the conference by Eskom board chair Mpho Makwana? No—he specifically referred to board chair Dr. Mteto Nyati, who outlined how leadership alignment between the board and executive team helped stabilize the power utility over the last two years
For Mokonyama, the lesson for transport is clear. South Africa’s transport minister oversees 20 service-delivery entities, and the effectiveness of those organizations depends heavily on whether the right people are in leadership roles
“It’s clear that leadership is the key to unlocking a lot of these things,” he said
Without skilled, decisive leadership at board and executive level, he warned, reform efforts can stall regardless of how sound the underlying strategies may be. He added that funding remains another pressure point, especially for transitional projects that require sustained capital commitments over many years
Mokonyama was particularly critical of the stop-start pattern that has characterized parts of South Africa’s transport investment pipeline. He pointed to the country’s 2008 passenger transport strategy, which underpinned bus rapid transit systems such as MyCiTi in Cape Town, A Re Yeng in Tshwane and Rea Vaya in Johannesburg. While those systems emerged from a coherent national strategy, he said later policy reversals and pauses in execution risk undermining progress and raising long-term costs.
Capital programs, he argued, are especially vulnerable to disruption when new leadership teams halt projects or revisit earlier decisions. Similar issues have played out at Transnet, where interruptions to capital programs can delay delivery and create substantial opportunity costs for the broader economy
“Capital projects are not the friend of stop-start kinds of approaches,” Mokonyama said
Beyond leadership and funding, he called for a more responsive legislative culture. In particular, he said parliamentary portfolio committees, including those focused on transport and finance, need to listen more closely to evidence from the sector and shorten the turnaround time for legal and regulatory reform
Mokonyama said South Africa cannot afford to spend years trying to implement frameworks that look sound on paper but fail in practice. Instead, he called for greater agility, shorter legislative cycles and a more adaptive policymaking environment, especially in areas governed by National Treasury procurement rules
In an increasingly competitive global economy, he warned, regulatory inertia amounts to self-sabotage
For business, the implications are significant. Faster reform could unlock more efficient logistics networks, accelerate clean transport adoption, improve returns on infrastructure investment and strengthen South Africa’s appeal as a destination for capital tied to industrial growth and energy transition value chains. Delays, by contrast, risk leaving the country behind as competitors move more quickly to modernize their transport systems
As South Africa seeks to capture a larger share of global opportunities linked to critical minerals and the green economy, the message from the transport sector is that execution now matters more than diagnosis. The expertise exists, the industry says. What is needed is decisive leadership, consistent funding and a legislative framework able to move at the speed of economic reality
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