The CSIR's Drs Sibusiso Sibisi and Rachel Chikwamba with Richard Vallihu from Transnet
The discussions regarding formalising the CSIR/Transnet partnership gained momentum when CSIR executives accepted an invite to tour Transnet Rail Engineering’s Kilner Park (Pretoria) plant on 19 July 2012.
CSIR Chief Executive Officer Dr Sibusiso Sibisi, who led the CSIR delegation, conveyed excitement about working with Transnet on a larger scale than before. “Thank you for hosting us, we have been looking forward to this tour. It may have taken us a long time to get to this point but it is certainly the beginning of a great partnership,” he said.
The tour comes on the heels of a visit to the CSIR by Transnet engineers who wanted to get a sense of the organisation’s competencies. There has since been deliberations between the two organisations in order to craft a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will assist in elevating the level of collaboration.
Transnet Rail Engineering (TRE) Chief Executive Richard Vallihu said, “Colleagues from both sides have struck up a good working relationship. Once the MoU is in place we can consolidate all the projects that the CSIR has embarked on with the divisions within Transnet.”
The CSIR delegation comprised Group Executive Strategic Alliance and Communications Dr Rachel Chikwamba; Group Executive: Operations Dr Hoffie Maree; Chief Financial Officer Chris Sturdy; Executive Director: Built Environment Dr Cornelius Ruiters; Executive Director: Defence, Peace, Safety and Security (DPSS) Andre Nepgen; Berenice Lue Marais and Themba Belle from the Strategic Alliances office as well as Charl Harding from DPSS.
The day’s activities included a walk-about in the various workshops within TRE where the CSIR team was shown what it takes to put together the locomotives in the Transnet fleet, while attempting to identify more areas of potential collaboration. “Elaborating on these areas will be an on-going exercise. We have arrived at a scope of things we would like to do and we now need to sharpen projects and activities,” Chikwamba added. Click here for a related article.
Sibisi and Vallihu concurred that this partnership will not only be beneficial for the respective organisations but will also assist in growing the economy and in the creation of jobs in the country. It has been proposed that a management team will meet monthly to track progress on the various projects.
 |
 |
| The CSIR delegation received a warm welcome when they arrived at Transnet | |
 The CSIR’s Dr Rachel Chikwamba, Dr Cornelius Ruiters and Berenice Lue Marais at Transnet |
 The CSIR and Transnet are working towards developing a strategic partnership |
