Ex-government official joins Transnet as CEO
Transnet has filled the chief executive officer’s post, which was vacant since late 2018, by appointing Portia Derby as chief executive officer.
February 03, 2020: Transnet has filled the chief executive officer’s post, which was vacant since late 2018, by appointing Portia Derby as chief executive officer, South African government informed. She is a former director-general of the department of public enterprises.
Transnet’s former CEO Siyabonga Gama was fired in October 2018 less than a year after Cyril Ramaphosa replaced Jacob Zuma as state president, over what the board said were “serious violations of his financial, procurement and fiduciary responsibilities”. Gama denied the accusations.
Transnet, which operates nearly three-quarters of the African rail network, the bulk of which is in South Africa, is one of a clutch of state firms that have faced investigations over alleged corruption, or “state capture”, running into several millions of dollars, reported Reuters.
Similar to state power firm Eskom and revenue authority SARS, Transnet has been subject to major changes as part of Ramaphosa’s campaign pledge to clean up governance in Africa’s most advanced economy.