By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Transnet Freight Rail’s (TFR) CEO Sizakele Mzimela, is the latest executive at the rail port to fall on their sword and will vacate her post at the end of October.
Mzimela was appointed by Transnet CEO Portia Derby in early 2020. Derby resigned last week. Under Derby and Mzimela, a large number of skilled and experienced staff left the organisation through a voluntary severance arrangement they put in place.
Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan, earlier this week described Mzimela as “relatively new to the rail sector” and said that there were skilled and experienced people who could do the job that he had learned about in “the recent past.”
While the two have faced challenges outside their control – a political dispute with a Chinese supplier over locomotive parts, the pandemic, rising crime, and flood damage – there has also been evidence of fundamental management failure. A lack of basic controls, outdated systems, and inexperienced staff resulted in Transnet meeting only 25% of its targets for the past financial year.
In her letter to TFR employees, Mzimela highlighted the difficulties that TFR has faced in accessing spare parts for the Chinese locomotives, resulting in a train shortage.
“You have all taught me the art of resilience and the will to wake up every single day, striving to make a difference. You continued to demonstrate dedication even when the odds were against you,” she wrote.
“With solutions to the key impediments mentioned, the current war zone will return to normality and TFR will be fully equipped to truly play its role of circulating the lifeblood of the South African economy.”
The trains were bought by Transnet from China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) by previous management during the state capture era. Large-scale corruption in the contract led to the freezing of funds due to CRRC, with unresolved disputes between CRRC and SARS and the Reserve Bank. Gordhan has been unable to resolve these at a political level.
Transnet posted a R5.7bn loss for the year ending March 2023. The company’s debt has ballooned to R130bn, and it is paying R1bn in interest every month to service the debt.