TRANSNET BOARD
TIM COHEN: Brutal, thankless and relentless: the task that awaits Popo Molefe
After the debacle at Prasa, Molefe begins the process all over again — but this time the stakes are much higher at Transnet
Imagine being Popo Molefe, the new chairman of Transnet. What an enormous task lies before him: thankless, brutal, relentless. And in some ways, not that difficult. What motivated him to take the job is both easy and hard to understand. He must have gone through hell at the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa). He arrived after it had become obvious that Prasa rigged the purchase of locomotives through the simple contrivance of buying them not from the actual constructor, Spanish company Vossloh Espana, but from an intermediary called Swifambo Rail Leasing, into which various snouts could be thrust and which has since disappeared. The finding followed a running battle with CEO Lucky Montana, finally settled in 2015 by then public protector Thuli Madonsela. But not before a bruising public-relations showdown in which Molefe was the one most often accused of corruption, even though he arrived long after the Swifambo contrivance. In the process, Molefe had to go to court to get his job ...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.