JOHANNESBURG - Re-industrialisation can only succeed if South Africans are involved, according to the African Rail Industry Association.
It said the country's railway revival must prioritise local manufacturing and job creation to drive meaningful growth.
"We must rebuild this country," said African Rail Industry CEO, Mesela Nhlapo.
"If we are not going to rebuild this country, then we will push people further into poverty," she said.
Everything done by railways must impact South Africans at large, said Nhlapo.
"Not as consumers of railways, but as builders of railways," she went on to say.
Nhapho said, despite President Cyril Ramaphosa's notion that South Africa is re-industrialising, the people cannot be left behind.