Ipeleng Mkhari’s Motseng helps win 15-year Gautrain contract

Motseng Investment Holdings, the South African investment group co-founded and led by Ipeleng Mkhari, is part of the consortium that has won a 15-year concession to run the Gautrain, the rail line linking Johannesburg, Pretoria and OR Tambo International Airport.

The consortium, Sihamba Sonke Mobility, reached financial close on the deal and took over on Sept. 28. The concession runs until 2041 and covers operating, maintaining and refurbishing the 80-kilometer rail network and its feeder bus service.

Motseng joined the bid through a joint venture with African Infrastructure Investment Managers, known as AIIM, one of the continent’s largest infrastructure investors. The other members of the consortium are French transport operator RATP Dev, French train maker Alstom, engineering firm GIBB-Crede, AIH Connect and SSM InvestCo, a black broad-based ownership vehicle. The size of Motseng’s stake and the amount it is investing were not disclosed.

The Gauteng Provincial Government’s previous concession with Bombela Concession Company ended on March 27, 2026. The new deal was procured under South Africa’s public-private partnership framework and signed with the Gautrain Management Agency on behalf of the provincial government.

A deal more than a year in the making

Motseng first announced its role in the bid in May 2025, presenting its partnership with AIIM, RATP Dev, Alstom and others as an investment in the future of South Africa’s passenger rail network. Later that year, AIIM and Motseng announced a broader partnership to build what they described as a black women-led infrastructure investment group.

The Gautrain gives that partnership a flagship asset. The rail line has carried more than 216 million passengers in 16 years, according to the management agency, and it is one of the few large urban rail systems in Africa run under a private operating contract.

“The Gautrain has become an important part of Gauteng’s economic and transport infrastructure,” said Vuyo Ntoi, co-managing director of AIIM, speaking for the consortium. “As Sihamba Sonke Mobility, we recognise the responsibility that comes with taking stewardship of an asset of this significance.”

Eight new trains and longer hours

The consortium has committed to a series of upgrades over the 15 years. These include more frequent trains outside weekday rush hours, longer operating hours and an expansion of the fleet from 24 to 32 four-car trains. It also plans more feeder bus routes and smaller midibuses to connect riders to stations.

Alstom’s share of the work is worth €800 million over the life of the concession. It will build eight new trains locally, install a new signaling system, refurbish the existing fleet and provide long-term maintenance. RATP Dev, which has run the Gautrain through its Bombela Operating Company subsidiary since the line opened in 2010, will continue as the operator.

From one security deal to rail

Mkhari co-founded Motseng in 1998. The group’s first deal was the purchase of equity in Enforce, a security business, followed in 2002 by a deal with Marriott Corporate Property Services. She also set up what is described as the first black woman-owned CCTV business in South Africa.

Motseng has since grown into a diversified investment group with interests in asset management, property management, infrastructure, logistics and industrial manufacturing. Mkhari co-founded Delta Property Fund, which listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 2012 with assets worth R2 billion.

She is one of the most prominent black women in South African property. She is a former president of the South African Property Owners Association and has chaired the Women’s Property Network. In September 2025, she became independent non-executive chair of Attacq, the JSE-listed property developer behind Waterfall City in Midrand.

Her awards include the Standard Bank Top Woman in Property Award and Forbes Woman Africa’s Pioneer Woman of the Year. The Gautrain concession is the largest infrastructure contract Motseng has been part of, and it moves the group well beyond its roots in property and security.