Latest news with #R51
The Citizen
a day ago
- Business
- The Citizen
Transnet bailouts? Government bends with R94.8bn more in guarantees
It will ensure all the group's debt redemptions are covered for the next five years and mitigate the risk of credit downgrades on its existing debt, says the Transport Department. The further state support comes as international ratings agencies have in recent months either downgraded Transnet's credit rating or warned that it is running out of cash. Picture: Supplied Government has approved additional guarantee support of R94.8 billion for struggling state-run ports and rail group Transnet. On Friday the government approved an additional R48.6 billion guarantee for Transnet, to ensure that all debt redemptions will be covered over the next five years and the transport entity will maintain sufficient liquidity levels, according to the Department of Transport (DoT) on Sunday. This comes as international ratings agencies have either downgraded Transnet's credit rating or warned that it is running out of cash in recent months. The DoT added that the government had considered the impact of the credit downgrades on Transnet's existing debt and therefore also approved R46.2 billion for it to mitigate the risks of such ratings actions on its debt. This additional 'guarantee support' for Transnet follows government's approval of an allocation of R51 billion in guarantees to Transnet on 22 May 2025. That allocation comprised R41 billion for the funding requirements for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years and R10 billion for liquidity management purposes. The latest additional guarantee support for Transnet follows Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy's announcement on 12 June 2025 that the government had initiated a process to allocate additional guarantees to Transnet. ALSO READ: S&P Global exposes Transnet's operational crisis as it fails to meet targets Creecy said at the time the government had initiated this process given Transnet's debt redemptions, over its five-year corporate plan period of R99.6 billion, and to at least cover the entire redemptions over the corporate plan period. She said this support from government will allow Transnet to ensure: That all debt redemptions will be covered over the next five years. The execution of its capital investment programme. Short-term liquidity risk is adequately mitigated. Creecy added that the government is determined to work with Transnet over the corporate plan period to focus on structural solutions to improve its capital structure to reduce its debt levels. She said the government will monitor Transnet's performance to ensure it provides adequate support as Transnet implements government's required reforms. The DoT said on Sunday the government will also continue to work with Transnet to ensure operational and financial improvements in the company and to accelerate implementation of reforms for the logistics sector, including private sector participation. ALSO READ: Creecy punts private sector investment for five rail and port corridors Creecy told the Southern African Transport Conference earlier this month that her department had just concluded a request for information (RFI) process to guide private sector investment in its five-priority rail and port corridors. She stressed that the limited availability of state resources to fund infrastructure development makes private sector investment critical. Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, Creecy said there had been 'an excellent response' to the RFI, with almost 163 submissions. 'We are now processing those submissions so that Transnet can begin the formal procurement process at the end of August 2025, through the issue of requests for proposals,' she said. Creecy said the DoT will at the end of this month release the second batch of the RFI, which will be focused on passenger rail initiatives. ALSO READ: R26 billion rescue from World Bank: Can the loan save Eskom and Transnet? Infrastructure funding She said funding sources for immediate rehabilitation of the five priority rail corridors include the current Transnet budget for rail and rolling stock maintenance and purchase of port equipment, submissions to the National Treasury's Budget Facility for Infrastructure, and private investment in refurbishing or expanding line capacity through existing customer agreements. Creecy said Transnet itself makes annual allocations for maintenance, but this is insufficient, and they have also put in an application to the Budget Facility for Infrastructure. Overall, it will be applying for more than R30 billion. 'This would allow us to do maintenance and to buy equipment for the rail corridors and also in the ports,' she said. The minister noted that there are two tranches: the July window application is already in, while they are still working hard on preparing the application for the October window. ALSO READ: Government delivers R51 billion support to Transnet. Will it last? 'We won't be able to do all of the ports and corridors all at once, but we will be doing so incrementally as we process the information. 'What we can look forward to is some major investment in our rail corridors and also in our ports. Obviously, it's going to take our infrastructure to a different level moving forward,' she said. Four of the six targets that Creecy highlighted in her Budget Vote speech in Parliament earlier this month are to: Ensure by 2029 that Transnet moves 250 million tons of freight on its network each year. Improve the speed at which ships are loaded and unloaded in South Africa's ports to the international benchmark of 30 gross crane movements per hour. Ensure the passenger rail system provides safe, reliable and affordable transport to workers and their families, with the aim of ensuring 600 million passenger journeys a year by 2030. Move 1.2 million tons of airfreight a year through the Airports Company of South Africa network of airports by the end of this political term. This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
Eyewitness News
2 days ago
- Business
- Eyewitness News
Transnet will receive R94.8 billion from Transport Department over next 5 years to help manage mounting debt
JOHANNESBURG - Transnet will receive R94.8 billion in financial support from the Transport Department over the next five years to help manage its mounting debt. The Department said the additional guarantees will cushion the impact of recent credit rating downgrades, to mitigate risks and ensure Transnet can meet its debt obligations. This latest support follows a R51 billion guarantee approved earlier this year by Transport Minister Barbara Creecy and Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana. Department spokesperson Collen Msibi said the new allocation will help stabilise the entity's financial position. 'On the 12th of June 2025, the Minister of Transport, Ms. Barbara Creecy, announced government has initiated a process to allocate additional guarantees to Transnet. As a result, government has, on 25 July 2025, approved an additional R48.6 billion guarantee for Transnet to ensure that all debt redemptions will be covered over the next five years. '
The Citizen
04-07-2025
- General
- The Citizen
PowerBall and PowerBall Plus results: Friday, 4 July 2025
R54 million in jackpots are up for grabs! Here are your PowerBall and PowerBall Plus results for 4 July 2025. Get the PowerBall and PowerBall Plus results as soon as they are drawn on The Citizen, so you can rest easy and check your tickets with confidence. Estimated jackpots for Friday, 4 July 2025: PowerBall jackpot: R51 million guaranteed. PowerBall Plus jackpot: R3 million estimated. PowerBall and PowerBall Plus results for Friday, 4 July 2025: PowerBall: 00, 00, 00, 00, 00. Powerball: 00. PowerBall Plus: 00, 00, 00, 00, 00. Powerball: 00. The winning PowerBall numbers will appear after the draw. Usually within 10 minutes of the draw. You might need to refresh the page to see the updated results. While great care has been taken to ensure accuracy, The Citizen cannot take responsibility for any error in the PowerBall or PowerBall Plus results. We suggest verifying the numbers on the National Lottery website. How much does it cost to play PowerBall? Lottery outlets close at 8.30pm on the day of a draw, which happens at 9pm. The terms and conditions may differ from other service outlets. Visit for more information. You can find the historical winning numbers for PowerBall and Lotto draws here. How much does it cost to play PowerBall? PowerBall entries cost R5 per board including VAT. PowerBall Plus costs an additional R2.50 per board. You can also play PowerBall on selected banking apps (T's & C's apply). Visit and go to the How to Play section to find out more.
TimesLIVE
02-07-2025
- Automotive
- TimesLIVE
Stellantis may close factories due to EU fines for carbon emissions
Stellantis may have to close factories due to the risk of hefty EU fines for not complying with CO2 emission targets, the head of the Franco-Italian carmaker for Europe said on Tuesday. European car manufacturers have to sell more electric vehicles to cut CO2 emissions or risk penalties as part of the bloc's efforts to limit the catastrophic effects of climate change. The carmaker industry has successfully lobbied for more time to comply as fines will be based on 2025 to 2027 emissions rather than only in 2025. Stellantis' Europe chief Jean-Philippe Imparato said the targets were unreachable for carmakers, and exposed his company to fines of up to €2.5bn (R51,948,170,730) within "two to three years". Speaking at a conference in the lower house of parliament in Rome, he said without significant changes in the regulatory situation by the end of this year "we will have to make tough decisions". This is because Stellantis would either have to double its electric vehicle sales, which is impossible, or cut the production of petrol and diesel vehicles, Imparato said, to improve the energy mix of its fleet in favour of electric. "I have two solutions: either I push like hell (on electric) or I close down ICE (internal combustion engine vehicles). And therefore I close down factories," he said, at one point mentioning the Italian van-making plant of Atessa.
The Citizen
24-06-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Transport minister has big hopes for big plans
After almost a year as minister of transport, Barbara Creecy says her department is ready to tackle the challenges it faces. Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy addressing members of the media on the N12 Potchefstroom on 13 June 2025. Picture: Department of Transport Transport minister Barbara Creecy has big hopes for the department's big plans to get reforms going that will get South Africa back on track and grow the economy. Speaking at a PSG Think Big webinar, Creecy says South Africa's transport and logistics sector has long been recognised as a key obstacle to economic growth but promised that change is underway. She was discussing the future of South Africa's transport infrastructure and the role it plays in the country's economic recovery. Creecy says she spent the past 12 months in her role getting to grips with one of the most complex portfolios in government, overseeing 16 entities ranging from Transnet and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) to the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) and the Road Accident Fund (RAF). ALSO READ: New minister of transport's five targets a clear and encouraging vision Transport department's six targets for next 5 years To bring direction to this massive brief, Creecy and her department outlined six key targets to guide her current five-year term, including: Increasing freight volumes on Transnet's rail system from 149 million tonnes to 250 million tonnes per year restoring passenger journeys on Prasa to 600 million per year by 2030 (up from 77 million) boosting port productivity to the international benchmark of 30 gross crane moves per hour expanding Acsa's passenger footprint to 42 million and tripling air freight volumes to 1.2 million tonnes per year, and reduce road accidents and fatalities by 50%. 'We are making progress. It is hard work and it is very slow, but so far this year we managed to get the accident rate down by 9% and therefore, I am hopeful that this target is achievable by 2030.' ALSO READ: Government delivers R51 billion support to Transnet. Will it last? Transnet's poor financials thorn in transport department's side Despite signs of improvement, Creecy acknowledges that Transnet's poor financials remain a major concern. Moody's recently placed most of its ratings on review for downgrade, and therefore, government applied for an infrastructure injection via Treasury's budget facility, while also pursuing a broader programme of structural reform. 'There is a broader process of rail reform that is taking place in our country. In December and January this year, we issued a network statement that called for third-party participation in our freight sector. It is the first time this has ever happened in our country.' This reform is focused on repositioning Transnet as a state-owned infrastructure provider, allowing third-party freight operators to use the network. Creecy says Transnet Freight will still exist, but it will earn revenue from different freight operators operating on its network. She says private sector interest has been strong and her department was overwhelmed by the appetite. A recent RFI process attracted 11 000 site visits and 163 submissions. However, responsiveness will be critical given past failures in the procurement process. 'We have seen situations where the market did not find proposals put out by state-owned entities appetising and interesting.' Creecy makes it clear that this new approach to reform would be based on tight rules and governance and adds that B-BBEE, financial viability and ensuring projects reach financial close without overburdening the state will all be key to structuring future requests for proposals. ALSO READ: Outa calls for no fines during driver's licence backlog Time is not on the transport department's side Given that South Africa is 20 years behind its global peers in rail reform, Creecy admits that time is not on government's side. 'Right now, we must invest in the region of about R15 to R20 billion a year into the network if we want it to function effectively and if we want to be able to increase the number of train slots.' However, she says, the long-term potential still remains promising. The National Rail Master Plan, expected later this year, will outline a vision for modernising South Africa's rail network, including upgrades from the outdated Cape Gauge system and digitisation of controls. While this vision unfolds, Creecy says short-term gains are pursued in partnership with business and points out that this has already led to recent successes on the manganese line and she hopes to replicate them on the coal line this year. She also stresses the need to align transport reforms with South Africa's industrial strategy. Creecy says that beyond local gains, South African transport expertise could become a future export. 'This revitalisation of rail is something that other countries in the subcontinent are already involved in. 'It is very important that we have that long-term perspective about where we would want to go with the future of the entity and the way it could support broader economic development in our country.'
