Newly appointed Transnet Port Terminals chief executive Velile Dube has no illusions about the magnitude of the task ahead of him. Having officially taken the reins on July 1, he has already proved he is far more of a swimmer than a sinker. Freight News features editor Liesl Venter sat down to find out more about this logistician.
LV: Where does your love for logistics come from?
VD: I think, if I am honest, I really stumbled into this business out of sheer curiosity. I am a student of literature – the study of human nature, different characters in different settings, different factors driving their decision making. That is why I put up my hand when Shell Southern Africa was recruiting. That is where my career started. Logistics for me is literature coming alive. I have never looked back.
LV: You have done well at Transnet. To what do you attribute it?
VD: It is not my first stint at Transnet. I worked brief ly for the company in 2005. After working at Shell I moved to Eskom and from there I was appointed at Transnet, but I was not ready for this environment. I was not mature enough to deal with working for a state-owned enterprise this size. I left and joined Toyota SA as their vice president for product and marketing communications – and from there I went on to Eqstra where I was the CEO. These were all wonderful opportunities and I enjoyed the work, but I had fallen for logistics and it just was not what I wanted to do. In 2009 I came back, more mature and more competent and ready for the challenge. I think understanding the significance of Transnet and its mandate was an important step change for me. I know now how important a role Transnet plays in driving the economy and its growth. We are the epicentre of the country’s logistics system. I have a clear picture in my head of what we need to do and I know we are not fulfilling our obligation at present. We have to change, we have to be commercially viable. I am under no illusion about what is expected of me and the TPT team going forward. We also only get one chance at this. There is no room for failure.
LV: Do you have a dream for TPT under your tenure?
VD: I look at TPT as a world-class investment case. If anyone in the world could put their money anywhere, I want them to choose TPT. It is such a beautiful business with so much potential. We are geographically in an ideal position to be a part of the global supply. Right now, on the container side, we are only grabbing 0.6% of the global market. That is a tiny share and it can be so much more. The role of shipping and logistics as a driver of socio-economic development cannot be overly stressed. We have to grow our share of the market. The reality is that our potential remains untapped.
LV: How does one tap that potential though if one looks at the terminals? I don’t need to tell you about the complaints about inefficiency and congestion.
VD: That is my mandate. I am tasked with implementing a strategy that integrates all stakeholders – from cargo owners to suppliers, shipping lines and customs – for the delivery of an efficient cargo system in this country. People have given up on us and we need to get them back, to show them that we are capable of delivering world-class terminals. But, and this is important, we have very limited time in which to do this. We need to make our ports and terminals attractive and competitive so our customers stay with us. Competition is happening all around us. We have wasted enough time. Action is now required.
LV: How do you do that?
VD: We do what we used to do in the old days when 50 people were sent to Durban and told ‘turn this into a good investment case and then we can privatise the port’. Let’s park the privatisation debate and just look at what they did. They ran the business with an empowered management team. That means having the correct people at the correct level with the correct amount of resources and discipline to run a complex logistical operation. That is what we need to do now. We just have to run each and every sub-system within a terminal properly, without interference. For too long management skills have been sucked out of the terminal and decisions have been made in a corporate office, not considering the practical implications at terminal level. That is where the cargo moves, it’s where we invoice, not from a corporate office. Our customers are our touch point – that is where crane moves make an impact, not in a corporate office. We need to make terminals attractive places of work where employees are empowered to do the job they know how to do.
LV: What is your biggest challenge in your new role?
VD: We have to become a customer-facing organisation.
LV: Interesting you say that. Who is your customer? It’s a long-standing belief, is it not, that TPT’s customers are the shipping lines and that is where they focus.
VD: I get upset when people say that. Logistics and supply chain is a team support. The physical movement of cargo is just one element. That is the physical f low, but then there is the f low of digital, information and money. There are many players in that game and they all need to collaborate. We do not operate in isolation and therefore we have to cooperate in a systemic manner where everyone plays a role in this very integrated supply chain. I don’t and can’t use the word customer loosely. The system as a whole has to work and it has to be balanced at all times. For me it is all about collaboration, collaboration, collaboration.
LV: Which practically will mean rebuilding trust with people?
VD: Absolutely. I know we are not doing what we are supposed to, but I also know that we can change this. We know what is wrong. Terminals need more decision-making power, vessels need to be turned around quicker, port equipment has to be modernised, there has to be better gang productivity. It is now time to stop focusing on what we are not doing and start doing it. It is good to have the strength of an elephant, but we need the nimbleness of a rabbit if we are to get this right.
LV: One last thing, tell Freight News readers one thing about yourself that they probably don’t know?
VD: I played semi-professional football. I had to choose between going to varsity or becoming a professional football player. Varsity won