Cape Town — State-owned company, Transnet, has announced Michelle Phillips as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and hopes she can lead the troubled public enterprise into recovery.
Public Enterprises Minister, Pravin Gordhan, announced Phillips as the official CEO after she had been in the acting role for over a year. Alongside Phillips, Nosipho Maphumulo was appointed as the group Chief Financial Officer (CFO), a Public Enterprises statement said.
“These are critical appointments which represent our steadfast commitment as government to equip Transnet with a competent and experienced executive leadership team to drive the strategic interventions that the board has put in place as part of the Transnet recovery plan,” Gordhan said.
During Phillips’ tenure as acting CEO, Transnet went through a number of performance improvements in the rails and ports. Phillips has a track record of being a team player to achieve business objectives, with more than 20 years of experience.
Minister Gordhan Announces Transnet GCEO and CFO@follow_transnet pic.twitter.com/vkr21yAY0D
— DPE_ZA (@DPE_ZA) February 28, 2024
Phillips has held multiple positions since she joined the company in 2001, before she eventually took over as acting CEO in 2020.
“When she found an operating division with poor governance, theft, spillage and poor performance and she had turned that around to date. She achieved a green audit report status on supply chain which means the business is clean and without deviations from governance,” Gordhan said.
Former Transnet CEO, Portia Derby, faced criticism during her three-year tenure. She was accused of running Transnet into the ground, with challenges in the rails division costing the economy billions of rands, EWN reported.
Gordhan described Maphumulo as a highly accomplished business leader, financial steward, operational strategist, change catalyst and trusted advisor,
offering extensive experience, providing sound financial and commercial guidance in complex and demanding environments.
Gordhan said Transnet played an important catalytic role in the South African economy. and he is confident that the appointments will provide Transnet with strategic direction and the ability to execute its ongoing reforms.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
