Transport Minister Barbara Creecy has launched an online request for information (RFI) process to test market appetite for potential private sector participation (PSP) investments in selected rail and port infrastructure and operations.

The information submitted ahead of the May 9 closing date for responses will help guide the development of the first PSP procurement phase, which could begin before the end of August.

The corridors selected for the RFI, include:

• a PSP for the Northern Cape-to-Saldanha Bulk Minerals Corridor and the Northern Cape-to-Nelson Mandela Bay Corridor, which primarily transport iron-ore and manganese exports respectively;
• the Richards Bay Bulk Minerals Corridor PSP, which is a key export channel for coal and chrome exports from Limpopo and Mpumalanga, and through which magnetite is also exported; and
• an intermodal supply-chain PSP project focused on the container and automotive sectors, including the potential designation of the South African container port system as a regional transhipment hub for major shipping lines.

Creecy said the pre-procurement RFI had been initiated in an effort to ensure that the eventual request for proposals (RFPs) was “guided by current realities in the rail and port environments”.

This, she added, would also help ensure that bidders were attracted and that the projects selected had promising prospects of reaching financial close.

“[The RFI] will enable us to articulate the challenges in a structured and coherent way, clearly defining their scope, context, and impact to inform the development of focused, strategic, and sustainable solutions,” she said, adding that other social partners, such as labour, could also raise their priorities and concerns through the process.

She added that, because the RFI was part of a research and consultation process, all information submitted would be treated with strict confidentiality and used exclusively to inform the development of potential PSP projects.

In parallel, the Department of Transport (DoT) was moving to establish a PSP Unit to oversee the private sector’s involvement in areas previously monopolised by Transnet and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa.

A memorandum of agreement between the DoT, the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and the National Treasury was being finalised to appoint the DBSA as the hosting institution for the unit, which is currently operating on an interim basis within the department.

Once PSPs entered into the procurement phase, the RFPs would be undertaken through the PSP Unit.

“The PSP Unit and Transnet will develop the policy-aligned PSP Programme, which will enter the formal procurement phase from the end of August 2025,” Creecy said.

The RFI documents and response forms are available at www.psp-rfi.co.za.