Michelle Phillips
GROUP CEO: Transnet
‘We don’t make money if we don’t move volumes’
MICHELLE Phillips’ focus for the next year is bringing Transnet back to profit. Latest interim results show the loss is reducing, but the state-owned enterprise is still dependent on government backing to raise funds for capital investment. It will take a long time for Phillips and her team to fix years of underinvestment in the infrastructure, internal corruption and mismanagement, dwindling rail volumes, rampant theft and vandalism of the 20,000km of network, inefficient ports and unmotivated staff.
Given its constraints, Transnet has had to introduce private sector players to operate on parts of the network and the ports. By December, 11 companies had been granted conditional access and it will take them six to 18 months to get up and running. More concessions will be granted. At Durban Container Terminal Pier 2, Transnet has brought in ICSTI, a global independent terminal operator, to improve efficiencies and cut logistical costs for users. Phillips may take credit for a modest 4.4% improvement in rail volumes in the latest interim period to end-September. She says the focus is on sustainable growth, and nurturing relationships with customers.
About 85% of capex is now being spent on rehabilitating and maintaining the network, and protecting it from damage by deploying high-tech security systems. A lot of work has also been done to bring Transnet’s 50,000 employees on board and she says most are working hard to turn the business around. Her goal is to show the country that, with the right support, the business can be profitable.
LIFE OF MICHELLE
Phillips was appointed CEO in March 2024, having spent over 20 years at Transnet. Her previous position was CEO of Transnet Pipelines, where she fixed problems such as spillage, theft, and underperformance. She was the first member of her family to complete a university degree, reading law at Nelson Mandela University. Her career began as a forensic investigator in the Special Investigating Unit and she later joined Transnet as a manager at Transnet National Ports Authority. Direct and pragmatic, Phillips describes her strength as being a problem solver.
