By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has thrown his weight behind Transnet’s board following calls for the axing of chief executive Portia Derby and her team.
Gordhan was responding to correspondence from the Association of South African Chambers, which called for a resolution to challenges impacting South Africa’s economy as a result of underperformance at Transnet.
Durban Chamber is one of six organisations, including the Association of South African Chambers, in the country that have written to Gordhan calling for his intervention in the state-owned entity. The Durban chamber represents 3 000 businesses in eThekwini metro.
The correspondence comes after Gordhan’s directive three weeks ago to the Transnet board to make recommendations to address the state-owned entity’s operational shortcomings.
Transnet reported a loss of R5.7 billion in 2022-23 and a drop of 23.6 million tonnes in rail freight, down to 149.5 million tonnes.
“The recently announced annual financial results of Transnet have made it very clear that the entity urgently requires serious interventions that will address the root causes of the deficiencies that are having a negative impact on our economy and are hurting our export competitiveness.
“The board is seized with the injunction that I have given it, and I am sure that the issues that have been raised by the Chambers will be addressed in its recommendations or in the feedback that the board will present to the shareholder. The shortcomings of Transnet are of national concern,” Gordhan said.
“I am confident that the board understands the scale of the challenges that are confronting Transnet, and I can assure the South African public that the board has my full support in its effort to come up with the requisite remedial actions. We will be engaging the Chambers, “Gordhan said.
Transnet announced on 17 July that Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services had been selected as the preferred bidder for the operations of Pier 2.
This concludes the process of selecting an equity partner for the terminal but few details have been released to the public. Transnet has said it will retain ownership of its assets such as equipment and the new operator will provide technical skills and skills transfer, and that there would be no retrenchments.
Transnet said in a statement that it was aware of the letter “expressing concern about operations at the city’s port, and calling for the removal of the Transnet leadership as a solution”.
“Transnet’s Group CE [chief executive] Portia Derby met the mayor of eThekwini, Mxolisi Kaunda and the CEO of the chamber, Palesa Phili, on the sidelines of another engagement in Durban this morning [Friday] and the parties have agreed to collaborate on finding solutions to the pressing challenges,” the state-owned entity said.