UNDICTATED: Firing Cadres won’t fix Transnet while Pravin still runs show

Long-time property developer Francois Nortje has a vested interest in the country re-establishing its once-efficient logistics network. Then again, given its massive on the national treasury, so do all South Africans. However, we’re observing that the SACP/ANC government seems to misunderstand that simply firing the cadres it deployed at Transnet is not its silver bullet. In this interview with BizNews editor Alec Hogg, Nortje explains why Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, at 74, is a significant part of the problem. There’s no disputing Gordhan’s massive contribution to the nation through his successful turnaround of SARS and steadfast resistance to the Zuptas. However, when it comes to managing an enterprise — be it public or private, Eskom, Transnet, or SAA — a communist, no matter how smart or well-intentioned, is operating far outside their circle of competence. The evidence suggests the only lasting solution to the ongoing Transnet disaster lies in a radical transformation of ANC leadership’s thinking, not in doubling down on the long-failed fantasy of a “Developmental State.” Given its track record, this approach, to paraphrase Albert Einstein, is insanity.