MOTOR CITY: Tshwane needs better freight rail to become SA’s automotive capital

There was a blue, oval-shaped void on the show floor at SA Auto Week 2026 in Durban this week. Ford Motor Company Africa’s president, Neale Hill, was on the speakers’ list, but it had no representation as a brand with a stand.

Into this vacuum stepped Chery, latest tenant of the Nissan factory in Rosslyn, Pretoria, and its neighbour in the not-so-special automotive economic zone, BMW.

The Eastern Cape can say what it wants, but Gauteng hosts 200 automotive component firms alongside major assembly plants, and generates 34.4% of South Africa’s total GDP. And Pretoria serves as the country’s central hub for automotive research, development and technical skills, making a powerful case for it serving as the strategic inland platform for vehicle assembly and export into broader African markets.

Tony Liu, chief executive of Chery SA, says that as a new investor coming to the country, the company is in it for the long run. “We are here in South Africa for the people and are also becoming a South African citizen. So, we are part of the economy, part of this country’s economic development.”

But there are barriers that all businesses and even citizens fully understand, and Liu knows he will have to grapple with them. “Infrastructure-cost competitiveness, including water and electricity – those are basic things. Logistics cost – that is also going to be adding a lot of weight onto our competitiveness across Africa and even globally,” he tells Daily Maverick.

BMW’s Rosslyn plant exports most of its production volume. Operating far inland from coastal export ports creates structural logistics vulnerabilities that require reliable rail infrastructure and stable municipal grid connections.

“It’s the wrong place, to be honest, because we export 96% of our volume… So that’s always been an issue, and our biggest challenges have been logistics,” admits Peter van Binsbergen, chairperson and chief executive of BMW Group SA.

The Transnet curse

One of the benefits of moving into Rosslyn is that a railway line runs by it, but this has not always been the benefit it should have been.

“We’ve had a lot of logistics challenges in the time when Transnet was shaky,” says Van Binsbergen. “Post-Covid, when railway lines and power cables were being stolen, we had a lot of problems getting our cars and our parts in and out of Rosslyn. So we even brought in containers via Mozambique and things like that.

“We have a rail line that comes right to our siding at the vehicle distribution centre, but that rail line has just been notoriously unstable.”

So, Daily Maverick was not surprised to spot both Van Binsbergen and Liu in conversation with Transnet group CEO Michelle Phillips on day two of the conference.

“We managed to clear up ... as the motor industry meeting with Transnet that we want to actually put more on rail instead of on trucks,” the BMW chief disclosed. “Trucks are not our wish… But you need to balance your line so that it’s full going down to the port and full coming back. Having Chery in Rosslyn might, or will, give us a bit more muscle to balance that line a bit better.”

Special zone, special treatment

One Pretoria carmaker that also has a railway line running right by it, Ford, was actually promised improved logistics when it sank R15-billion into Silverton.

“There has been progress in the broader rail reform process, including the rail access framework and onboarding of private operators, as well as some progress at ports,” Ford wrote in reply to questions. “However, rail is one part of an interconnected logistics value chain, and the entire ecosystem needs to operate in unison.

“For Ford, the key issue is how this translates into reliable, commercially viable services that support automotive manufacturing and exports.

“This requires a rail system that runs on time, has suitable rolling stock, and provides dependable connections between manufacturing hubs and ports so that incoming goods and export vehicles reach their destinations on schedule, and support our wider business operations.

“Access agreements and reform milestones are important, but the real measure will be dependable operational services across the logistics chain.”

Ford’s castle is in the heart of the Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone (Tasez), an empire that spans 162.6ha in Silverton and holds pride of place as Africa’s first automotive city. It is backed by direct funding and a multi-
tiered government partnership between the De­­partment of Trade, Industry and Com­petition, the Gauteng provincial gov­­ernment and the City of Tshwane.

As part of the privilege of re­­ceiving Cyril Rama­phosa’s blessing during his 2019 presidential campaign, the Tasez has been integrated into a VIP energy grid to protect tenants against municipal power interruptions, alongside dedicated rail sidings connecting Rosslyn and Silverton factories straight to export ports.

Break in the chain

Transnet’s CEO has actively engaged with automotive leaders during industry forums to build collaboration channels between the state-owned logistics provider and primary vehicle manufacturers.

“We will talk to the automotive industry about how best we can support them going forward, both on port and rail, and engage with them on collaboration initiatives and how they can support us to make sure that we do what is required for the industry,” Phillips told Daily Maverick after her conversation with Liu.

“We are in this business because we know that it’s difficult, actually, and that there are problems to be solved. I think in the logistics space, if you don’t have a problem, then you have a problem... Look, we are trying hard together with the teams to support the industry as much as we can.”

To be fair to Transnet, it is on the right track to reform in two important ways. First, manufacturers acknowledge a marked improvement in Transnet’s willingness to communicate openly, resolving misunderstandings regarding rail usage versus road freighting.

And second, Phillips’s engagement with Rosslyn manufacturers on bi-directional corridor efficiency addresses line balancing – using inbound trains for imported components or vehicles and outbound trains for export vehicles – and has seemingly set clear objectives.

However, there is still an execution gap. Although leadership dialogue is welcomed, manufacturer evaluations – particularly from Ford – still show that reform milestones, access frameworks and private sector onboarding must rapidly translate into on-time rail schedules, sufficient rolling stock and seamless port handling to protect manufacturing competitiveness.

Van Binsbergen reveals a possible policy direction that could salvage the ailing industry. “If we really want to get economies of scale, we’ve got to actually agree that [we need to] specialise in South Africa … in wiring harnesses, car glass, tyres,” he suggests.

“And then we have to be able to talk to each other without breaking competition law to say, ‘Okay guys, these are the topics we’re going to focus on. We’re going to give enough ­volume to the producer so they can get their economies of scale in place and we can develop like pools of competence.’ ”

There must be something in the water on the west side of Tshwane because Liu was singing a similar tune of collaboration and united industrial action. Now, if only that message can spread. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R39. The e-edition of Daily Maverick’s weekly newspaper, DM168, is now free for readers who are signed into their Daily Maverick account. Click on the cover of the newspaper below to access the e-edition.