Freight Rail boss Siza Mzimela resigns, joins leadership exodus at Transnet

Transnet Freight Rail boss Siza Mzimela has announced she is quitting the entity at month-end, telling the staff: “I will root for you wherever I go.”

Her departure comes hot on the heels of Transnet CEO Portia Derby and CFO Nonkululeko Dlamini resigning.

This followed growing calls from various industry bodies because of the economic impact of the company's worsening operational performance.

In an internal memo, Mzimela recounted her three years at the rail division and listed successes as including the introduction of orderless trains in the Maputo, northeast corridor to reduce transit times and increase freight volume; repair of the line between Durban and Cato Ridge after severe flood damage; increasing female representation at executive level; and improved regional co-operation.

She listed challenges in the company as a lack of tools for peak performance, lack of locomotives, and crippling theft and vandalism.

Nonetheless, Mzimela said she had faith in the future of TFR.

“You have all taught me the art of resilience and the will to wake up every single day, striving to make a difference. You continued to demonstrate dedication even when the odds were against you,” she wrote.

“With solutions to the key impediments mentioned, the current war zone will return to normality and TFR will be fully equipped to truly play its role of circulating the lifeblood of the South African economy.”

Transnet posted a R5.7bn loss for the year ending March 2023. The company’s debt has ballooned to R130bn, and it is paying R1bn in interest every month to service the debt. This prompted public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan to instruct the board to find the root cause of the poor operational performance and ensure appropriate people were in the right posts.

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