Between 1971 and 1973, the South African Railways placed 150 Class 6E1, Series 3 electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement in mainline service.

A pantograph hook stick was stowed in a tube mounted below the bottom edge of the locomotive body on the roof access ladder side.

[1] The Class 6E1 was produced in eleven series over a period of nearly sixteen years, with altogether 960 units placed in service, all built by UCW.

While some Class 6E1 series were visually indistinguishable from their predecessors or successors, some externally visible changes did occur over the years.

On the Series 3 units in the number range from E1346 to E1445, an externally visible difference is a wider stirrup below their side doors.

1 end was stripped of all controls and the driver's front and side windows were blanked off to have a toilet installed, thereby forfeiting the loco's bi-directional ability.

In the 1990s many of the Series 3 units began to be repainted in the Spoornet orange livery with a yellow and blue chevron pattern on the cowcatchers.

E1328 was withdrawn from road service and repainted in a white and dull green livery for use as apprentice trade test locomotive at Sentrarand.