A meeting would be held as a matter of urgency to discuss the critical issues, which caused frustration to the members of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), Transnet said in a statement on Friday afternoon.
The South African rail, port and pipeline company was responding to the DCCI's leaked letter, which called for the axing of the entity's management.
“Transnet SOC Ltd (Transnet), has been made aware of a letter from the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, expressing concern about operations at the City’s port, and calling for the removal of the Transnet leadership as a solution. Transnet’s Group CE Portia Derby met with the Mayor of eThekwini, Councillor Mxolisi Kaunda and the CEO of the Chamber, Palesa Phili, on the sidelines of another engagement in Durban this morning, and the parties have agreed to collaborate on finding solutions to the pressing challenges,” Transnet said.
After this meeting a joint statement would be issued by the parties, detailing the interventions to be implemented by Transnet.
The Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry NPC said on Friday that it did not have a comment on this matter and a formal statement to the media would be issued out when it was ready.
In its letter to the Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan and the Chairperson of the Transnet Board of Directors Andile Sangqu dated September 12, the DCCI made known its concerns on Transnet CEO Portia Derby and her executive team.
“The business community of eThekwini has reached a point where we can no longer tolerate her behaviour, that is clearly geared towards sabotaging businesses, through the lack of service delivery with the current Port Infrastructure,” read the DCCI letter.
The DCCI is not alone in its frustration as the troubled logistics parastatal has become a handbrake to South Africa’s economic growth, causing trade bottlenecks and ships to divert to other ports.
South African mining companies recently reported shrinking revenue and profit margins as a result of Transnet’s inefficiencies in exporting ore, and called for experienced personnel at the leadership of the state-owned group.
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan earlier this month ordered Transnet to produce a convincing turnaround plan within one month in a bid to quickly address the derailment of the group’s operational and financial performance.
The state-owned logistics firm this month reported that it had swung into a massive R5.7 billion loss for the year ended March 31, 2023, down from a R5bn profit a year before, as the volumes delivered by its freight rail business dropped 13.6% during the period, from 173 million tons to 149 million tons.
The troubled logistics firm cited power supply disruptions, cable theft and floods in KwaZulu-Natal as the reasons for its poor performance.
In his maiden address to Parliament last week, Transnet chairperson Andile Sangqu said they had identified that there were many challenges that the company was facing, and that it was not going to be possible to deal with all of these challenges at once.
Last week, the South African Association of Ship Operators and Agents said a major injection in new equipment was necessary in all South African ports.
BUSINESS REPORT