The Mmamabula-Lephalale railway line has been in the works since at least 2011 and the delay in its construction has frustrated developers along the country’s eastern coalfields.
The link, which will run for about 113 kilometres from Mmamabula to Lephalale in Limpopo, will provide a more direct, high-capacity route for coal and other bulk commodities to the sea, through both Richard's Bay and Mozambique.
Despite being one of Botswana Railways’ top infrastructural priorities, the export route’s development has dragged over the years, even though private sector participation by the mines, has been offered in principle.
According to documents seen by BusinessWeek, the planned line will have a capacity of 24 million tonnes per annum and will connect to existing lines that run to South Africa’s Richards Bay and Maputo, both key export terminals for bulk minerals such as coal.
The project will involve upgrades of existing infrastructure such as the Multiple Purpose Terminal at Richards Bay in order to accommodate increased volumes from Botswana. The two countries apparently intend to run the project as a public private partnership, with no financial contributions from the governments.
“The Mmamabula-Lephalale Rail Link will be operated as one seamless service with no stopovers at the South Africa-Botswana border,” the documents indicate. “For Botswana Railways, the project will include upgrade of the line from Morupule Coal Mine to Mmamabula (140km) including building new crossing loops to accommodate additional volumes from the mine. “For Transnet, this will include upgrade of the lines in the Waterberg area which will unlock 24 million tonnes per annum.”
The latest developments come as Morupule Coal Mine ramps up its target of producing 10 million tonnes per annum in the next four years, up from about three million tonnes at the moment. The bulk of the production at Morupule’s new Motheo open cast mine is targeted at the export market, but inadequate transport infrastructure has reduced the coal’s price competitiveness and supply amounts.
Transnet Freight Rail spokesperson, Bonginkosi Mabaso, told BusinessWeek the recently released request for information for funding and development was running parallel to the completion of the railway line’s prefeasibility study.
“The prefeasibility study is currently underway and is planned to be completed in September 2023. “This link is a regional integration initiative (and) there are also other commodities that will be transported in the line other than coal. “As part of regional integration, it will facilitate trade within the SADC region,” he said.
Botswana Railways has been under pressure to develop more rail infrastructure in the country, in order to facilitate development, particularly in key sectors such as mining. The country’s main railway line, the North to South link, has been in place since 1897.
