Bodies affected by the mess caused by the road delivery of coal to the Port of Richards Bay have now got a direct response from the Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, who said the “shortcomings of Transnet are of national concern”.
Correspondence from a group of concerned stakeholders that use Transnet services for exports, called the Association of South African Chambers (Asac), followed a directive that Gordhan gave the Board of Transnet about three weeks ago that it urgently make recommendations to address a range of operational shortcomings facing the state-owned freight and logistics company – the largest in Africa.
“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,” a statement from Gordhan’s ministry said.
“I am sure the Board will address the issues that have been raised by the chambers in its recommendations or in the feedback that it will present to the shareholder. The shortcomings of Transnet are of national concern,” said Gordhan.
The issues that Gordhan directed the Board to report back on include operational transformation, root causes of the problems, accountability, a management review, information and operational data transparency, excessive cost structure and employee engagement.
“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 it has my full support in its effort to come up with the requisite remedial actions. We will be engaging the chambers,” Gordhan added.
