SOUTHERN AFRICAN RAILWAYS ASSOCIATION 10 YEAR JOURNEY

Formation of SARA SARA was formed in 1996 as an offshoot of two

organisations, the Southern African Development Coordinating Conference (SADCC) Railways Chief Executives Conference (SRCEC) & the Southern African Railways Chief Executives Conference after realising the;

continued decline in railway market share and failure by governments to continue subsidizing railways increase in road haulage

need to re-design railway services to fulfil;

Customer demands Competitive cost Service predictability & safety Seamless one stop service Promoting sharing of resources

Formation of SARA cont’d Need for a lobby group as identified by the CIDA funded

study of 1994/95 with the following major areas of advocacy;

Fair surface transport competition

Infrastructure funding

Overloading controls

Improving governments’ awareness of the importance of rail as a mode of transport

Article 13.1 of the SADC Protocol on Transport, Communications and Meteorology recognises SARA and other regional organisations.

Founding members of SARA The following are the founding members of SARA;

Botswana Railways (BR) Companhia do Caminho de Ferro de Benguela (CFB) Portos E Caminhos de Ferro de Mozambique EP (CFM) Malawi Railways (1994) Ltd National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) Spoornet (SPN) Swaziland Railway (SR) Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) TransNamib Zambia Railways Limited (ZRL)

Secretariat The SARA Secretariat was formed in 1998 with the main

function of coordinating the activities of the Association.

The Secretariat office is based in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Engineer Remigious Makumbe (now with SADC Secretariat) was the first Secretary General (Executive Director) of SARA.

The current Executive Director is Mr. Bernard Dzawanda.

The Secretariat is financed by annual subscriptions from members.

SARA Presidents The SARA Board’s rotating presidency has been held as

follows; Mr. A.S. Le Roux – Spoornet (1996/97) Mr. A. Ramji – Botswana Railways (1997/98) Mr. A.Mabena- National Railways of Zimbabwe (1998/99) Mr. B.Crawford – Zambia Railways Limited (1999/2000) Mr. G.Mahlalela – Swaziland Railway (2000/01 & 2001/2) Mr. E.Dvir – Beitbridge Bulawayo Railways (2002/03) Eng. R.Fonseca – CFM (2003/04) Mr. J.Shaetonhodi – TransNamib (2004/05 & 2005/06) Mr. B.Botana – Railway Systems of Zambia (2006/07) Dr G.Mahlalela – Swaziland Railway (2007/08)

Key stakeholders

SARA’s key stakeholders are; Customers Governments Collaborating partners/donors Employees Suppliers Community

SARA’s achievements Lobbying & advocacy

Notable success in convincing governments on the importance of railways. Positive outcomes recorded on fuel levies. Levelling of playing field remains a major challenge.

Operations improvement

Progress made on sharing of resources and through working leading to improved transit times.

Joint train planning Creation of Corridor Management Groups

Customer base/business volume

Business volume has not significantly improved since the formation of SARA but the railways have managed to retain some major customers

SARA’s achievements cont’d Technical improvements

Maintenance standards on wagons improved to allow them to cover 1000km before examination.

Ability by members to maintain each other’s equipment hence facilitating smooth interchange.

Training

Joint training of staff in areas of operations, marketing, safety and technical services.

Projects

Rolling Stock Information System (RSIS). Austrian Development Agency funded track maintenance project.

SARA achievements cont’d Membership base

New member railways have joined SARA over the years as follows; SNCC (year) Tanzania Railway Corporation (year) Beitbridge Bulawayo Railways (year) Railway Systems of Zambia (year) CCFB (year) Angola x 2 (year)

Other new associate members include Imperial Fleet Services, Manica Africa, Railway Safety Regulator of South Africa.

Challenges

The following challenges have been confronting SARA over the years; Lack of funding for rail infrastructure Equipment availability & standardisation Skills drain Internal versus regional procedures

SARA today The Association now boasts of 21 members

of which 13 are full members and 8 are associates.

New membership thrust to admit customers, suppliers and other interest groups adopted in 2004.

New membership composition provides the much needed balance for exchange of information and ideas that enhance service provision.

SARA today cont’d Mission

To facilitate the creation of an environment whereby the railway industry is a top performer and make rail transport the mode of choice.

Vision

To be the leader in the promotion of trade, movement of goods and passengers, and economic growth in the SADC region and Africa as a whole.

SARA today cont’d Objectives

To promote the railway industry in the SADC region. Advocate for fair and sustainable competition among all

surface transport providers. Promote regional and continental rail network connectivity. Exploit interconnectivity and achieve cross border operability. Promote alliances for the exchange of technical information,

strategies, skills development and training Develop, enhance and harmonise policies, governance and

business processes. Promote alliances with other modes of transport where

opportunities exist in order to achieve synergy and provide total logistics solutions.

Addressing challenges & way forward Thrust of strategy and vision

The new SARA strategy developed in 2004 aims to elevate the association’s performance by focusing on;

Membership drive Capacity building in railways Projects funding Operations improvement Standardisation of operating resources and procedures Customer service and performance improvement.

Areas requiring assistance from governments & collaborating partners

Financing of railway infrastructure Levelling of the playing field between road and

rail. Duty exemptions on imported recapitalisation

equipment and spares. Exemption from fuel levies. Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) Enforcement of overloading controls on roads Information technology and capacity building