It suffered from lack of maintenance of the tracks and rolling stock, weak management, and external factors such as the Angolan Civil War and the collapse of the economy of Zaire under President Mobutu Sese Seko.

From there, the Office national des transports (Onatra) took over and carried the minerals by boat down the Kasai and Congo rivers to Kinshasa, then by rail to Matadi, from where they could be shipped overseas.

[8] The government's stated objectives included ensuring transport flowed smoothly in the Shaba mining area, maintaining and improving the rail facilities, keeping transport costs to the minimum for the mining industry and agricultural producers, and to strengthen management of the consolidated rail network while phasing out foreign staff.

It was meant to prevent the railway from deteriorating further, and to contribute to the Onatra modernization program and to rehabilitation projects for the Matadi and Kinshasa ports.

Traffic volumes had been dropping due to reduced production by Gécamines, and political unrest in 1991 had disrupted the economy.

[15] In 1995 prime minister Léon Kengo wa Dondo allowed foreign investment in some of the lines in an attempt to revive them.

[7] In 1997 the Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo (AFDL) began a rebellion, which disrupted Sizarail operations.

[7] Sizarail was dissolved in 1997 and all operations were taken over by the Société nationale des chemins de fer du Congo (SNCC).

[16] When mining began to resume, transport of mineral exports was mostly through the road and rail networks of other southern African countries.