Strike takes precedence over new CT appointment

This week’s Transnet national strike has set back, albeit it temporarily, the naming of a new business unit executive at Cape Town Container Terminal, but the port terminals division, unlike its parent, has moved rapidly to fill the void. This follows the sudden departure, after only three months, of Moshe Motlohi, who has returned to Durban for personal reasons and taken up the position of business unit executive at Pier 1. (FTW May 7) TPT chief operating officer, Nosipho Damasane, told FTW last Friday that the looming strike, and only that, had taken priority over the new appointment. She said his successor was likely to be announced before the month is out. Neville February will act as business unit executive at Cape Town Container Terminal until Motlohi’s successor is named. In the meantime the inexplicable delay in naming a new Group CEO of Transnet does little to give assurance to the business community. A new report suggests the group is struggling to fill 15 executive and management positions. Ansi Ramalho, executive director for the Centre for Corporate Governance, says there are various reasons for lengthy delays in naming a new CEO – an organisation’s inability to attract the right person, pay market- related remuneration or “sadly, sometimes political interference.”