Gautrain Management Agency’s new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Tshepo Kgobe, has assumed his role with effect from today, 1 February 2024.
The Gauteng MEC for Transport and Logistics, Kedibone Diale-Tlabela, announced the appointment of Kgobe as the next CEO in September 2023. Kgobe served as Chief Operating Officer at the Gautrain Management Agency (GMA) for the last four years. He succeeds William Dachs who stepped down at the end of his tenure on 31 January 2024.
Kgobe takes on the role of CEO at a time when the Agency has gone to market to invite bids for the next concessionaire to operate the Gautrain system, with the current contract with Bombela Concession Company coming to an end in 2026. The new delivery partner will operate, maintain, modernise, innovate, and upgrade the current Gautrain system so that it continues to provide a safe and efficient public transport service. Furthermore, the extension project to add 150-kilometre of rail network to the existing 80-kilometre Gautrain system is also taking shape. The route determination of Phase 1 of the proposed extensions from Marlboro Station to Little Falls Station has been finalised.
“The Gautrain Management Agency is a well-run entity that has over the past eleven years received clean audits and I have all the faith and trust that with Kgobe at the helm, the Agency will continue to scale higher levels of success. We wish him well in his new role and he has our full support in using the Gautrain as a vehicle for stimulating economic growth and job creation, promoting investment and new development,” said Diale-Tlabela.
Kgobe is an engineer with diverse technical expertise in infrastructure, energy, mining and the railway environment. He has extensive experience managing complex projects and operations. At the start of the Gautrain project, he was responsible for the engineering and project management of the trackwork subsystem.
“We want to maintain the high levels of operational efficiency and clean governance that have seen the Gautrain Management Agency record 11 consecutive clean audit outcomes. We also want to move the operations of the Gautrain Management Agency to be self-funding and self-sustaining by reducing the reliance on the fiscus,” said Kgobe.
According to Kgobe, the Agency’s multiple pronged strategy will enable it to become financially sustainable. “Firstly, we will look at property development in and around our stations, where we already have the rights to the land and want to partner with developers in developing that land. Gautrain Precincts will therefore become a hub for business, retail and social activities, supported by an integrated, accessible and affordable public transport system. Secondly, we are working on greening our operations and taking most of the station off the grid through solar power solutions and ensuring that most of our buses are powered by hydrogen. Furthermore, as we refurbish the trains post 2026, we will explore the possibility of developing them into hydrogen trains,” Kgobe explained.
“The Gautrain will become an even more integral part of people's daily lives and the mobility of choice in the province, not only for work, business and school, but also for large-scale social, sport and lifestyle events, and places of fun and entertainment. This is in line with the Agency’s purpose to transform spaces, people and the economy through mobility, Kgobe concluded.
The MEC also welcomed the new Gautrain Management Agency Board, whose term came into effect from 1 January 2024, chaired by Prof. Mfanelo Patrick Ntsobi.
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To watch the new CEO’s full message on Gautrain’s future plans, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jopXXHnN0Kg
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Contact:
Albi Modise
Gautrain Management Agency, Senior Executive Manager: Communication and Marketing
albim@gautrain.co.za
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