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·      Transnet lodged a court application to force Gijima to disengage and hand over data ·      Northern Gauteng High Court found that Transnet was not ready to receive such data ·      Gijima has committed to ensure smooth operations of the  Transnet Freight Rail

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Sizwe sama Yende

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Transnet SOC Limited has failed in its urgent court application to compel IT services provider, Gijima Holdings, to hand over services at the expiry of its five-year R1.5 billion contract.

The state-owned company had approached the North Gauteng High Court seeking an order compelling Gijima – owned by global entrepreneur Robert Gumede - to complete all engagement services as per Master Services Agreement (MSA) the parties signed back in 2018.

However, Transnet has not been ready, the Northern Gauteng High Court found in its October 16 judgment, to take over the services that involves the entire country's rail network, running container and wagon services over thousands of kilometres of rail with hundreds of depots and shunting yards. 

In 2017 Gijima fought tooth and nail to get the contract after Transnet awarded it to T-Systems SA (TSSA) even though Gijima’s had submitted a tender to provide the services at R500 million less than TSSA.

Gijima won the case in the Johannesburg High Court and was awarded the tender that expired in November 2024, but was extended to 30 June 2025. Gijima eventually purchased TSSA in 2020 in a deal worth R600 million.

Transnet’s High Court application also sought to force Gijima to migrate Transnet the data centre services including disengagement from the active directory by 30 June 2025. 

It also sought to interdict Gijima from engaging in any conduct that disrupted or interrupted the provision of services pending the completion of the handing over process.

In the judgment, Acting Judge Jacques Minnaar, said: “Transnet did not, as at the date of launch, by 30 June 2025, or even at the hearing of the oral evidence, possess the technical capability, infrastructure, or skilled personnel to assume the services. The absence of a transition plan, the lack of additional ICT resources, and the admitted dependence on third- party procurement all point to the same conclusion.”

He added: “Upon considering all the evidence, it is clear that, at the time of launching this application, Transnet was not ready to receive the disengagement services it now seeks to compel.”

Minnaar also found that Transnet had no transition plan, no technical readiness, and no clarity on how the most critical component - the mainframe - was to be migrated.

“The attempt to compel performance in the face of Transnet's own material non-performance is not only without merit, but also impermissible,” the judge said.

Minnaar added that the exceptio non adimpleti contractus (legal principle that allows a party to a contract to withhold their performance if the other party has not fulfilled their own obligations first) entitled Gijima to withhold performance until Transnet has fulfilled its reciprocal obligations under the MSA. 

“Chief among those is the provision of a viable transition plan. That obligation has not been met. ln its absence, it was and remains impossible for Gijima to perform,” he said.

Judge Minnaar dismissed Transnet’s application with costs.

Gijima Holdings deputy CEO, Roberta Gumede, said that the judgement affirmed Gijima’s proven delivery record and commitment to safeguarding the clients environment given the deep and knowledgeable understanding of the said environment and co-dependencies. 

Gumede said that Gijima looked forward to Transnet’s compliance with the court order and remained committed to ensuring continuity and sustainability of South Africa’s railway economy within the scope of its obligations. 

“Gijima again commits to an orderly disengagement and hopes Transnet shall also begin with its transition plan when the parties meet. However, Gijima committed to both the Court and Transnet that we will not jeopardises the smooth operations of Transnet especially the Transnet Freight Rail whose uninterrupted services are a lifeblood of our country’s transport logistics,” she said.