Thanks, as usual, for a great publication. I refer to your article headlined ‘Transnet inefficiencies costing billions..." FTW November 21, 2014). Unfortunately this ongoing saga about the gross inefficiencies in the port of Durban is so deep-rooted in politics that merely trying to work things out with “the local management” is simply a futile undertaking. To be brutally honest, until the politicians are held accountable for the totally flawed BBBEE debacle which pervades South African business in general, nothing will improve. Political appointments and jobs for pals will NOT create jobs or fix our port or our economy... Just look around at the entire economy. Can this government really be proud of their achievements? Can the ruling party be proud of the corruption which is rife, the trades union who have finally shown their true colours in their total internal break-down and ongoing strikes, rampant crime with ineffective policing etc. Don’t our politicians read the press and understand that the ratings agencies serve as a strong message that the business performance of South Africa, in the eyes of the world, is reflected by the down-grading of creditworthiness? Yet they persist in following proven recipes for failure. Until the fundamental thinking of these politicians is changed to make way for qualified and skilled people regardless of colour, our economy faces a bleak future. As a small group of companies, we at INTERLOGIX needed to expand but were deterred by what we found in South Africa, so we looked outside this country. In South Africa we found that only “red tape” was rolled out before us by the South African bureaucracy, so we turned to Namibia as an alternative area to invest in our future. To our delight, the Namibian authorities showed a totally opposite attitude. They rolled out the “red carpet” and went to great lengths to pave the way for us to invest in their country and economy. Wake up Transnet and South Africa! Either start to nurture ALL those South Africans with skills, regardless of colour and/ or political connectivity, or this great country will wake up and find that the entrepreneurs (you know, the people who really create jobs and propel the economy positively) have abandoned you. Tim Driman, chairman: INTERLOGIX Group, South Africa and Namibia.
