Page 17 - Maritime Book 1

Piloting Gender Transformation
In terms of Human Resources, by this time the National Ports Authority also had the most successful demographic and gender transformation programme in technical services anywhere in Transnet; consequently, the Department of Transport was seeking us out for advice and learnings, having in mind the transformation of South Africa’s aviation services.
Our trainees were cross-trained – technical staff received commercial education, while commercial personnel were trained to understand relevant technical aspects. We produced some of the most rounded expertise in port operations and management. Many of them are today in executive leadership throughout the Transnet Ports businesses, the broader maritime industry and corporate South Africa.
Sailing to Success
Marine Services had to align its transformation programme to the needs of the domestic
and international markets and clients, with a demonstrable radical shift and improvement
in competitiveness, ef ciency, and overall performance. By 2005, the business con dence in the effect of the changes implemented
made it possible for the business to enact the
new Stakeholder and Customer Relations Management Model (CRM), engaging with the market on new competitive service levels and entering into performance based contracts.
“One meeting which comes to mind was
with Captain Salvatore Sarno, Chairman of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), one of the largest shipping companies in the world. The goal was to engage the no nonsense head of MSC and offer them the new Docking System based on a differentiated No–Delay, Slot System, with the goal that they would be the rst to adopt the system.” After much wrangling, Captain Sarno nally agreed to subscribe all MSC ships calling in the South African ports to the system, at 50% more than the prevailing tariff. Mokhele recalls the Captain estimating that the system would save him the costs equivalent to about 13 ship- calls a month.
“All of the measures we put in place, driven by the new generation of Port Mariners, were so successful that by 2005, a nancial turnaround of over 500% had been achieved. The business was commercially viable, recording substantial pro t, with the highest safety record in operations in years. In recognition of the success of the programme, many in the Marine Team scooped the corporate awards such as Inkanyezi Top Performers, CEO’s Eagle
Awards and beyond Transnet, nationally and internationally during the 2003/2005 period. The Class of 99 was starting to show the shine. They showed their mettle.”
The Marine Services now generating a pro t, while ef ciently and safely facilitating South Africa’s international trade with new diversi ed talent and modern infrastructure assets, marked the success of the entire business transformation process, setting the scene for the future of the business. The journey to world-class was well underway.
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