The Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry has written a scathing letter to Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan calling for the removal of Transnet Chief Executive Officer Portia Derby and her executive team.
The Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry told Gordhan that the business community of eThekwini have reached a point where they can “no longer tolerate her behaviour”.
The business group said Derby’s behaviour was clearly geared towards sabotaging business, “through the lack of service delivery with the current port infrastructure”.
However, Transnet defended its executive, saying that Derby met with the Mayor of eThekwini, Mxolisi Kaunda and the CEO of the Chamber, Palesa Phili, on the sidelines of another engagement in Durban, “and the parties have agreed to collaborate on finding solutions to the pressing challenges”.
It said that a meeting would be held as a matter of urgency to discuss the critical issues that have frustrated the members of the Chamber.
“After this meeting, a joint statement will be issued by the parties, detailing the interventions to be implemented by Transnet,” the parastatal said.
In a letter dated September 12 and signed by Phili, CEO of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, it said that the South African economy was highly reliant on the logistics sector and an efficient state-owned entity and port would positively impact the entire value chain.
It referred Gordhan to “damaging” statements Derby reportedly made at a recent Bloomberg event, when she said Transnet’s logistic problems, caused by vandalism and other factors, had forced mining companies to switch to trucks to transport commodities.
She reportedly commented on potential job losses in the trucking sector should Transnet’s railing service improve.
She said mining companies chose this more expensive option to take advantage of the higher commodity prices and that the trucking option would not be sustainable in the wake of lower commodity prices and the improvement of Transnet’s rail operations. She called for a model that would include truckers long-term.
The Chamber raised concern that these remarks could further harm the current operations and encourage violent, unlawful behaviour, potential job losses and corporate sabotage.
It further told the Minister that, as a collective, they believed Derby, as well as the head of Transnet Freight Rail, Sizakele Mzimela, and Transnet National Ports Authority CEO, Pepi Silinga, did not have the best interests of the business community at heart and “they have proven time and time again that they are incompetent”.
“Transnet requires an executive team that is suitable, accountable, transparent and a team that will give this matter the urgency that it needs. Businesses are collapsing and losing revenue daily due to the port challenges, we cannot allow this to continue any longer,” the Chamber said.
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