Former SA Express CEO joins Transnet Freight Rail; Thuli Mpse joins SA Express as interim CEO
Former acting CEO of SA Express, Siza Mzimela has taken up the postion as CEO at Transnet Freight Rail.
April 04, 2020: Former acting CEO of SA Express, Siza Mzimela has taken up the position as CEO at Transnet Freight Rail (TFR), as per FTW Online.
Thuli Mpse has been appointed acting CEO effective April 1, 2020.
It follows the announcement earlier this week by SA Express that Mzimela, appointed 18 months ago with the sole task of resuscitating the airline, was leaving to “pursue other interests”.
The airline had recorded a loss of R591 million during the 2018/19 financial year. Since then the business rescue practitioners of SA Express have launched an urgent application at the Johannesburg High Court to liquidate the airline. The case has yet to be heard by the court. It is expected to come before the court in late April.
On the other hand, SA Express owes Ziegler SA as much as R11.3 million. The transport and logistics service provider and the airline had entered into an agreement in February 2017. As per the deal, Ziegler SA would provide local and international movement of SA Express' aircraft parts and engine parts for maintenance. However, according to Ziegler SA's affidavit, SA Express did not honour payments within the stipulated timeframes of the agreement.
Prior to joining SA Express, Mzimela served as the CEO of - Fly Blue Crane and South African Airways.