How does a lawyer – and a woman at that – end up running a country’s port terminals? Spend time with Transnet Port Terminals’ (TPT) first female chief executive, Nozipho Sithole, and the reason becomes clear.
A critical thinker with an immense amount of perseverance, Sithole has been at the helm of the country’s ports operator for just over a year, and has seemingly found her feet. That she has big plans for TPT is an understatement. This is a woman on a mission.
“We will be one of the top 5 terminal operators in the world,” she tells me matter-of-factly. Often when ports and terminals are rated worldwide, throughput is the only parameter. She believes, however that volumes are as important as safety, asset utilisation and berth productivity.
“It’s a combination of elements and each one deserves attention,” she says, adding that how TPT performs on each element five years from now will land it in the top 5. We are supposed to be talking about women and logistics, all in the spirit of August being women’s month, but Sithole, I very quickly realise, is under no pressure to survive, compete or conform to what others expect in what has traditionally been a maledominated sector.
There is no reason, she says, why women should not be successful at logistics. It involves coordination and communication after all – two things most women are good at.
“Tell a woman and you tell a nation,” she smiles. “Teach a woman and you teach the nation. Women are best placed to be in logistics because of their ability to coordinate and communicate.” The TPT EXCO leadership is 75% women and at least 44% of the terminal operators and/ or managers in senior positions are women. This TPT team, under her leadership, is now responsible for ensuring a highperformance culture and improving operational efficiency and planning.
Sithole has a deep-rooted understanding of Transnet, having joined the logistics giant in 1994 as legal adviser after practising as an attorney at Webber Wentzel and specialising in labour law, litigation and later conveyancing. Hard work and sheer determination have seen her work her way slowly to the top through the various Transnet divisions.
“There are several things important to me in the work place,” she says. “Ethics, accountability, speed of delivery and quality of work. I don’t tolerate mediocrity.” She is passionate about TPT and what it can achieve.
“Being one of the top five terminal operators in the world in five years is realistic and achievable,” she says. “It simply requires developing a culture of doing what you say you are going to do, applying technologies that enhance the assets, and improving customer service.”
I don’t tolerate mediocrity. – Nozipho Sithole
