Gibela Rail Announces the Appointment of Reggie Boqo as Chief Executive Officer

The Gibela Rail Transport Consortium is proud to announce the appointment of Reggie Boqo as Chief Executive Officer, effective 01 October 2025.

Mr Boqo has been serving as Acting CEO since April 2024 and has played a pivotal role in ensuring Gibela Rail’s stability, operational performance and delivery during this period. Prior to that, he served as Chief Financial Officer from 2018, providing strong financial leadership and helping to drive Gibela Rail’s strategy to localise rail manufacturing, create jobs, develop and transfer technical skills in South Africa.

“Mr Boqo has demonstrated the vision, leadership and integrity that we require to take Gibela Rail into its next chapter,” said Ms Irene Charnley, Chairperson of the Gibela Rail Board. “Under his stewardship, Gibela Rail has continued to perform to our expectations. His permanent appointment signals our confidence in his ability to deliver on our long-term commitments and build on the strong foundation laid in recent years.”

Mr Boqo’s appointment coincides with the completion of Gibela’s 300th train set for delivery to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), a milestone which marks the halfway point of the 600-train contract. While the achievement underscores Gibela’s continued progress under the lean manufacturing production strategy, the Board believes it also reflects Mr Boqo’s effective leadership during his acting tenure.

“It is an honour to be entrusted with leading Gibela at such an important time,” said Mr Boqo, commenting on his appointment. “I am deeply proud of what our team has achieved, and I am committed to ensuring that we continue to deliver modern, safe and reliable trains for South Africa. This role is not just about building trains; it is about contributing to the revitalisation of South Africa’s passenger rail system and supporting the country’s broader industrialisation goals.”

Background on Mr Boqo

Mr Boqo is a seasoned executive with more than 25 years’ experience in finance, infrastructure funding and leadership roles across both the public and private sectors. Before joining Gibela Rail in 2018, he was Group Chief Financial Officer for the City of Johannesburg, the largest metropolitan municipality in the country by budget.

He also spent over a decade in the financial services sector, focusing on infrastructure financing, where he held the role of Group Financial Director at the Infrastructure Finance Corporation Ltd (INCA). He also held senior roles at the Central Energy Fund (CEF), where he chaired the Group Audit and Risk Committee

He has served on various boards and governance committees in both public and private sector entities.

Mr Boqo is a Chartered Accountant (SA) and a Chartered Management Accountant (CIMA). He holds a BCom Accounting degree from North-West University, a BCompt Honours in Accounting Science from UNISA and has completed executive programmes at Wits Business School and the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS).