Heads roll as Transnet tries to 'make itself great again'

Industry representatives reacted with shock on Monday at the news that the freight and rail parastatal had suspended four top executives with immediate effect, including Shulami Qalinge, chief executive of Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) and Ravi Nair, chief executive: Transnet Freight Rail. The other two are Mlamuli Buthelezi, Group
chief operating officer and Nonkululeko Sishi, Group human resources officer respectively. While disbelief was expressed at the news of Nair, a long-standing expert at executive level at TFR, it’s Qalinge’s suspension that appears to have confounded commentators. CEO of the South African Association of Ship Operators and Agents (Saasoa), Peter Besnard, said he had been caught off guard
at the news of Qalinge’s suspension. “It’s quite startling and I never expected that this would happen to her. “She’s a very pleasant person and I’ve had a good relationship with her in the past. However, it’s become obvious that ongoing investigations have brought certain things to the fore and we have to ride this out.” His sentiments were more or less matched by Terry Gale, chairperson of the
Western Cape Exporters’ Club. “To be honest, I’m in state of shock. But having said that, I think it’s a very good move from Transnet’s point of view in that they’re sending a strong message here. “They’re obviously quite serious about cleaning up their image. It can only be a good thing but the proof will be in the pudding,” he said with reference to ongoing investigations at Transnet. Gale added that the statement informing industry about the suspensions was “also cleverly worded, and very transparent”. The statement stressed that Transnet was a business in transition. “The primary aim is to restore confidence and deliver on our mandate. We therefore need to be deliberate about improving our corporate governance and establish leadership informed by principles of integrity and accountability,” the statement read. It meant, however, that “difficult decisions” needed to be taken. The shock and surprise on the part of industry following Qalinge’s suspension, however, can only stem from the positive interactions she has had with industry, as per Besnard’s sentiments. In recent times she consistently made headlines for all the right reasons, from signing memorandums of understanding with the Competition Commission for promoting fair business practices through the country’s port system, to setting the record straight about Durban draught and berthing issues more recently (see FTW March 8, 2019). However, earlier this year Transnet chair Popo Molefe made it very clear that nothing would stand in the board’s way “to get to the bottom of allegations that the parastatal was involved in state capture. “Let’s not forget,” he said at the time, “it is here at Transnet where it all started.” Unfortunately for Qalinge and the other executives, it has been made clear that “their continued presence
in the workplace has the potential to jeopardise investigations into their alleged misconduct.” Ultimately it is also in industry’s best interest, Besnard said, despite the perceived progressive contributions of Qalinge. “We have fallen behind as a country and could be much further than we are at the moment. Even the Ports Regulator is trying to improve things. Everyone wants to see things progress and that’s what we should be focusing on. Gale agreed, saying that the state-owned enterprise was “obviously gunning for certain people. I’m just happy Tau Morwe, the acting CEO, isn’t one of them. He’s one from the old school who’s serious about what he’s doing and not interested in treating Transnet like his own personal gold mine”. Attempts to get comment from an inside source at TFR about the mood on the ground proved unsuccessful. It seemed to support the suspension statement’s view that there was an air of ruthless transformation at play, one aimed at “making Transnet great again”.