「Transnet personnel changes paying off

Coal export volumes railed to #RichardsBay were up more than 10% in the December quarter, and port backlogs are declining.

Then #PublicEnterprises Minister Pravin #Gordhan took a meat cleaver to the board.

In came #MineralsCouncil vice-president Andile #Sangqu as chair of #Transnet in July 2023, giving a voice to the company’s largest customer, the mining sector – accounting for roughly 80% of Transnet Freight Rail’s business and 50% of overall revenue. The board was loaded with engineers, industry representatives and labour, people who knew how to run an enterprise of this complexity.

Out went #Derby and #Mzimela, replaced by Michelle #Phillips as acting group CEO and Russell #Baatjies as acting CEO for freight rail.

Several former Transnet executives who left the organisation over the years have been lured back, including former programme director Marc Descoins.

#Havenga says several other former top executives have been roped into the Transnet recovery plan, many of them with salaries paid by #BusinessSouthAfrica.

Encouraging signs of progress

Writing in Moneyweb last week, Juanita Maree, CEO of the SA Association of Freight Forwarders – which sounded the alarm on Transnet a year ago – noted the encouraging signs of progress since business got involved in the #NLCC. The turnaround at #Durban Container Terminal Pier 2, with a recovery plan crafted and implemented by the crisis committee, will remove the vessel backlog by the end of this month.

“Cabinet’s approval and activation of the Freight Logistics Roadmap also opens the way for reviving a properly resourced, inter-modal, world-class logistics network for South Africa and the region,” says Maree.

Transnet seems to be embracing the collaboration with business:

[...]

The new management team led by Phillips and Baatjies has changed the culture and mood at Transnet, adds Havenga.

“The improvements we have seen in the last few months have all been achieved without massive investment in locomotives and wagons. These improvements are the result of operating smarter. Transnet has a rail network of about 21 000km, but virtually all of its rail revenue comes from just 1 500km of that network. That’s where we need to focus the attention.

“If we can improve turnaround times on the #Sishen-#SaldanhaBay railway line so we get trains turned around in 80 hours instead of 100 hours, that means we can run an extra train a day using the same rolling stock we have. And this can be done.”

The 861km Sishen-Saldanha line between the #NorthernCape and the port of Saldanha Bay in the #WesternCape handles most of the country’s iron ore exports, and its efficiency has had a direct impact on the revenue and profits of #Kumba Iron Ore and other iron ore exporters.

[...]

Perhaps Transnet has finally turned the corner and demonstrated what can be done when cadres are replaced by industry specialists.
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https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/south-africa/transnet-personnel-changes-paying-off/

#SouthAfrica #GoodNews #StateCapture #Economy #TFR #TransnetFreightRail