Gordhan says he’s busy fixing Transnet, not posting on Twitter

Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan has hit back at criticism that his department isn’t doing enough to turn around the performance of Transnet, saying there was “a lot of hard work happening behind the scenes”. 

Speaking on Radio 702, Gordhan said: “[Because] we do not issue statements every day, and people like me are not on Twitter, it does not mean work is not happening ... there are limits to what each individual sector can do.”

His comments come after ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula on Friday warned that the slow pace of improvements at the state-owned port and rail operator could cost Gordhan his job. 

“I’m going to say to Pravin Gordhan, I was with him there, I was also a minister of transport: ‘Comrade Pravin, move faster or otherwise we will move you,’” said Mbalula, who regularly uses social media to comment on political issues.

Gordhan said his department had the political will to confront the shortcomings at Transnet. Transnet’s board, which includes chair Andile Sangqu, a former member of Anglo American and Tongaat executive boards, should help with addressing its issues, he added.

The group has also announced Philippine company International Container Terminal Services Inc as the preferred bidder for a 25-year joint venture with Transnet Port Terminals to develop and upgrade Durban Container Terminal Pier 2.

Minerals Council SA has estimated the country’s bulk commodity producers missed out on R50bn in revenues in 2022 due to problems at Transnet, which include poor maintenance, a shortage of locomotives and vandalism.

“When you are trying to patch together a broken organisation where most of the money was spent illicitly on deals, it takes time, effort and a lot of courage to move out the wrong people from Transnet, but it is now on the right footing,” he said. 

“I think we have a good mixture of people who are represented on the board. With the new board, we will instil a new sense of emergency and those who want to stand in the way of change and increase transparency about the problems we have will have to be dealt with in a very emphatic kind of way,” Gordhan said.

Mbalula told the ANC local government intervention workshop on Monday that Gordhan had reported him to President Cyril Ramaphosa after his remarks. 

Mbalula said his comments weren’t criticism of Gordhan but an illustration of the urgency of resolving rail issues. 

“It was not an attack. It was an illustration we need to move with speed. It was not an attack on comrade Pravin as a person,” Mbalula said. 

“I singled out an area he deals with, which is logistics and freight, and I was talking about the Reserve Bank and the repo rate, and the issue they point to is we need to move with speed with regards to logistics and freight, and we need to move with speed with regards to load-shedding. 

“We must see progress when it comes to those matters because they are a major impediment to the growth of our economy.” 

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