Pranav Hotkar
Johannesburg, September 29, 2025- South Africa’s state-owned freight logistics company Transnet has completed two major digital infrastructure projects as part of its ICT Modernisation Strategy, advancing its move toward hybrid cloud adoption.
Today, the company announced that it has brought online a private cloud data centre in Durban and a colocation facility in Gauteng, developed in collaboration with Vodacom. Together, the sites provide secure and scalable platforms for migrating core business applications, managing historical data, and enabling advanced analytics across Transnet’s rail, port, and pipeline operations.
The Durban facility serves as a central private-cloud hub optimised for cloud migration and integration with future hybrid environments, while the Gauteng colocation site provides geographic redundancy, high availability, and network connectivity in one of South Africa’s primary ICT corridors.
Pandelani Munyai, Transnet’s Group Chief Information Officer, said the readiness of these facilities marks a key milestone: “With the data centre and infrastructure foundation in place, the organisation is now well-positioned to migrate core business applications. This will not only modernise ICT operations but will also unlock opportunities for advanced analytics, digital platforms, and innovation across the business.”
The projects were implemented using Transnet’s in-house expertise alongside partners, including Altron and Huawei for the private-cloud build, and public-cloud integration support through Microsoft Azure and local providers.
These infrastructure developments form one of four pillars in Transnet’s ICT modernisation strategy, which also includes ERP upgrades and cybersecurity initiatives. They address long-standing challenges tied to legacy systems and are expected to strengthen operational resilience across the company’s national logistics network.
Industry analysts note that improved ICT reliability is crucial for South Africa, where freight bottlenecks and infrastructure inefficiencies have cost the economy billions. By building a hybrid-cloud foundation, Transnet positions itself to reduce downtime, cut operating costs, and make better use of data for decision-making in freight management.
Looking ahead, Transnet says migrations of applications and data repositories are now underway, with further updates expected in its Q4 progress reports.
