Not going yet …

VIVA RAMOS, as Transnet
announced at the weekend
that it had amended the
fixed-term contract of CEO
Maria Ramos which was
due to expire in October.
She has no immediate
plans to leave, according to
Transnet spokesman Mboniso Sigonyela.
Information released to
FTW by Transnet suggested
that, having snipped out the
fixed-term provisions, the
new contract of employment
included a new clause
requiring her – or the board –
to give a notice period of the
intention to terminate her
employment with
the company.
Reacting to this Ramos
re-appointment, the freight
industry seems to be lined
along two attitudes.
One that sees Ramos
credited for her financial
abilities, and pulling Transnet
out of a mire into which it
was slowly sinking.
Transnet has recorded
a positive set of results for
four years on the trot, and its
June annual report showed
revenue having risen by
11.9% to R30.1-billion and
operational profit up 22%.
Gross earnings were 18.3%
up, at R13.2-bn.
The second line of thought
in the freight industry is that
Ramos’s financial dexterity is
rather effectively countered
by the lack of dexterity of
her operational underlings
running the various transport
outfits in the state-owned
group.