RAILWAY AND HARBOUR PURCHASE ACT

NO. 47 OF 1977

[ASSENTED TO 29 MARCH, 1977][DATE OF 
COMMENCEMENT: 1 JULY, 1976]

(Afrikaans text signed by the State President)

as amended by

Railway and Harbour Purchase Amendment Act, No. 97 of 
1977

Railways and Harbours Acts Amendment Act, No. 80 of 1979

ACT

To provide for the purchase and equipment of a certain line of 
railway and harbour and for matters incidental thereto.

1.   Purchase and equipment of a certain line of railway and 
harbour.—(1)  The State President may cause to be purchased 
from the South African Iron and Steel Industrial Corporation, 
Limited, the line of railway of a gauge of one thousand and 
sixty-five millimetres over an approximate distance of eight 
hundred and eighty kilometres between Sishen in the district of 
Postmasburg, and Saldanha Bay in the district of Vredenburg, 
built in terms of the Sishen-Saldanha Bay Railway Construction 
Act, 1973 (Act No. 28 of 1973), the harbour at Saldanha Bay in 
the district of Vredenburg, constructed in terms of the Saldanha 
Bay Construction Act, 1973 (Act No. 29 of 1973), and any land 
or real rights in land acquired or to be acquired by the South 
African Iron and Steel Industrial Corporation, Limited, for the 
purpose of such line of railway or such harbour prior to, on or 
subsequent to the date of purchase, and including any land or 
real rights in land acquired by the South African Iron and Steel 
Industrial Corporation, Limited, other than for the purpose of 
such line of railway or such harbour but which was 
subsequently utilized for such purpose, together with all the 
equipment relating thereto, at a cost not exceeding 650 million 
rand.

[Sub-s. (1) substituted by s. 13 of Act No. 80 of 1979.]

(2)  The powers conferred by this section shall include the 
power to construct and equip all sidings, stations, buildings, 
navigational channels, turning basins with accompanying 
buoying, wharves, docks, basins, jetties, piers, signal stations, 
navigational aids, breakwaters, yards and other facilities or 
appurtenances or additional works necessary for or incidental to 
the proper working of the said line of railway and harbour.

2.   Payment of costs.—The South African Railways and 
Harbours Administration is hereby empowered to—

(i)raise money by way of loans in terms of section 16 of the 
Railways and Harbours Finances and Accounts Act, 1977;

(ii)take over the rights and obligations in respect of all the loans 
which have been raised by the South African Iron and Steel 
Industrial Corporation, Limited, for the building of the line of 
railway, the construction of the harbour, together with the 
acquisition of all the equipment relating thereto;

(iii)accept liability for the repayment of moneys financed by the 
South African Iron and Steel Industrial Corporation, Limited, 
from its own sources for the purposes mentioned in paragraph 
(ii); and

(iv)have other moneys appropriated by Parliament

to defray the costs referred to in section 1.

[S. 2 substituted by s. 1 of Act No. 97 of 1977.]

2A.   Vesting of rights.—(1)  On the date of purchase of the line 
of railway and the harbour referred to in section 1, all land and 
real rights in land acquired by the Republic of South Africa in 
its Railways and Harbours Administration in terms of such 
purchase, shall vest in the Republic of South Africa in its 
Railways and Harbours Administration: Provided that in respect 
of land or real rights in land acquired by the South African Iron 
and Steel Industrial Corporation, Limited, for the purpose of 
such line of railway and such harbour and which only vests in it 
from a date subsequent to the said date of purchase, such land 
or real rights in land shall vest in the Republic of South Africa 
in its Railways and Harbours Administration simultaneously 
with vesting thereof in the South African Iron and Steel 
Industrial Corporation, Limited.

(2)  The Registrar of Deeds concerned shall, at the request of the 
Republic of South Africa in its Railways and Harbours 
Administration, cause the office copies of the title deeds of land 
or real rights referred to in subsection (1) to be endorsed to the 
effect that such land or real rights vest in the Republic of South 
Africa in its Railways and Harbours Administration and make 
the necessary consequential endorsements and entries in his 
records, and if at any time the original of any such title deed is 
lodged in his registry for any purpose, he shall cause a similar 
endorsement to be made thereon: Provided that, where the land 
or real right in land has been acquired by the South African Iron 
and Steel Industrial Corporation, Limited, by virtue of its 
powers of expropriation, such expropriation shall be noted in 
the Deeds Office records in the usual way prior to any 
endorsement or entry relating to the vesting of such 
expropriated land or real right in the Republic of South Africa 
in its Railways and Harbours Administration being made.

(3)  Notwithstanding the date of vesting of the land referred to 
in subsection (1) in the Republic of South Africa in its Railways 
and Harbours Administration, the provisions of the Rating of 
Railway Property Act, 1959 (Act No. 25 of 1959), shall only 
apply to such land from the first day of the month following that 
in which the Railways and Harbours Acts Amendment Act, 
1979, is promulgated.

[S. 2A inserted by s. 14 of Act No. 80 of 1979.]

2B.   Date of Purchase.—For the purposes of sections 1 and 2A 
“the date of purchase” shall mean 1 April 1977.

[S. 2B inserted by s. 14 of Act No. 80 of 1979.]

3.   Short title and date of commencement.—This Act shall be 
called the Railway and Harbour Purchase Act, 1977, and shall 
be deemed to have come into operation on 1 July 1976.