Transnet CEO Portia Derby resigns

Transnet CEO Portia Derby has quit after three years at the helm.

TimesLIVE understands Derby handed in her resignation to the Transnet board on Friday. Insiders said her resignation letter informed the board of her intention to step down at the end of October.

Derby and Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) CEO Sizakele Mzimela have faced mounting pressure to resign from various industry bodies amid trouble at the parastatal. 

In December 2022, the Minerals Council South Africa, which represents 80% of the mining industry, called on the Transnet board to replace Derby and Mzimela with a new management team, bemoaning the impact the company's worsening operational performance was having on miners.

Rail and port network constraints have undermined the mining industry’s export potential.

In 2022, exports through the Richards Bay Coal Terminal dropped to 50m tonnes, the lowest level in 30 years due to challenges at TFR.

The council previously said bulk mineral exporters lost R51bn in 2022 when measuring deliveries to the ports against targeted tonnages. It said the mining industry could generate R151bn in extra revenue if TFR was operating at nameplate capacity.

On September 15, the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry called for the removal of Transnet's leadership amid concerns about operations at the city’s port.

Transnet did not immediately respond to questions from TimesLIVE.