Andre Klynsmith

Mining and Commodities

Transnet Is Selling Access to the Mineral Corridors - Manganese and Dry Bulk Go First

Transnet has set out a three-wave private sector participation programme that puts two bulk mineral export facilities - the Ngqura Manganese Export Terminal and the Richards Bay Dry Bulk Terminal - in the first tranche, with the manganese terminal's request for proposals due for release this month and the iron-ore and coal corridors themselves earmarked for assessment in a later wave.

Mining and Commodities

15 September 2026 • 4 min read

The headline number from Transnet's results was a R4.6-billion profit. The number that matters to anyone hauling minerals is 167 million tons - the volume the railway actually moved, against a 180 million-ton target and a 250 million-ton national goal for 2030.

Three waves, and minerals are in the first one

Speaking at the group's results presentation on 10 September, Transnet chief executive Michelle Phillips described a sequenced portfolio of private sector participation transactions across rail, ports and pipelines. Wave 1 contains the already-completed sale of a 49.99% interest in the Durban Container Terminal Pier 2 - now the Durban Gateway Terminal - alongside the Richards Bay Dry Bulk Terminal, whose submission deadline was recently extended, the Ngqura Manganese Export Terminal, and a LeaseCo entity that will lease rolling stock to train operating companies in South Africa and the region.

Wave 2 targets rail fuelling facilities, yards and depots, agriculture and multipurpose terminals, and gas and jet-fuel pipelines and storage. Wave 3 is where the assessment of the iron-ore and coal corridors sits. Phillips framed the Durban transaction, which produced a R12.5-billion profit on disposal after two years of legal delay, as the template: Transnet intends to "transact for value" rather than simply divest.

Not every transaction is about money

Phillips was unusually direct about the container rail corridor between Durban and Johannesburg, which Transnet plans to concession: "We bleed on that line." The stated logic there is strategic relief rather than commercial proceeds - if a private operator can run it more cheaply, that is value in itself. A request for qualification for the Container Corridor PSP is expected before the end of the year, though Transnet acknowledged that a profitable private business case may be difficult to build without public support.

That candour is worth noting, because it tells mineral exporters something about sequencing. The assets being sold first are the ones with a clear revenue story - bulk mineral terminals with committed export tonnage behind them. The loss-making general-freight corridor is being handed over precisely because it does not carry that kind of guaranteed volume.

Rolling stock and rail access remain the bottleneck

Eleven private train operating companies have signed rail access agreements and some are expected to begin operating in 2027. Maintenance backlogs on the mainline network and a shortage of rolling stock remain the binding constraints on reaching the 2030 target. National Treasury has approved R14.8-billion in grant funding through the Budget Facility for Infrastructure, and Transnet plans a R129.1-billion capital programme over five years, of which R116-billion is sustaining capital - roughly R25-billion a year, against R23-billion spent in 2026.

For the wider SADC mineral trade, the read-across is straightforward. Every ton that South African rail cannot lift is a ton that either sits at the mine, moves by road, or leaves through a competing corridor. Zambian and DRC copper already tests the Walvis Bay, Dar es Salaam, Beira and Lobito options against the southern route on cost and reliability, and manganese and chrome producers in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape make the same calculation at a shorter distance.

About the Author
	Andre Klynsmith Entrepreneur & Technology Enthusiast Andre's expertise spans technology, blockchain, transport, and logistics - with a passion for innovation and driving positive change across industries. info@laaimylorrie.com | laaimylorrie.com