Tau Morwe has stepped out of retirement to take over the reins at Transnet.
An industry veteran who has headed up three of Transnet’s divisions during his career, Morwe will act as group chief executive for the state-owned freight and logistics company for the next six months. This follows the firing of Siyabonga Gama last month over violations related to financial procurement and his fiduciary duties.
Morwe, described by many as the man who spearheaded the quest to improve the rail and port system in the country for more than a decade, took early retirement in 2015. He has since worked as a port consultant across Africa, sharing his knowledge and expertise to the benefit of many port executives. It therefore came as no surprise to the local port community last week that the Transnet board had turned to Morwe amidst its latest crisis.
Having joined Transnet in 1997, he has served as chief executive of Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) and Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) and is one of the longest- serving and most experienced executive committee members at Transnet. In several interviews with Morwe during his tenure at Transnet and more recently as a port consultant, it’s clear he has little tolerance for mismanagement, making him the ideal candidate to restore the much-needed trust in the organisation.
During his time away from Transnet, Morwe has also not shied away from criticising the state-owned freight and logistics giant when necessary. In a previous interview, he told FTW that port reform in Africa was non-systemic and had taken too much of a piecemeal approach.
“Take Transnet for example,” he said. “They have not realised the capability that they really have. We have taken things too lightly. Singapore is Singapore because the government has ensured there is a stateowned entity developing infrastructure to speak directly to the national economy.”
At the time, Morwe said not enough time had been taken to look at the objectives of the national economy resulting in a lack of integration of the entire transport environment into one policy approach.
“The consequence is this is that we are only optimising a part of the system at any given time rather than the total system,” he told FTW. Morwe, an avid advocate of intermodal systems, has consistently called for a systemic approach to transport overall.
“In Africa, we just see the investment and grab it. We need to ask ourselves when we look at investments, are we getting new infrastructure and increased port capacity and efficiencies, including activities at the back of the port?” he said at a conference in Cape Town. “Effective and efficient coordination of road, rail and port related investments is what is required. You cannot just invest in ports in isolation. You need to look at an improved model where there is hinterland coordination, where you are moving freight efficiently and effectively. Effective investment brings intermodal efficiency.”
Reports shortly after his appointment indicated that his immediate priority would be to reassure staff and customers.
It has also been hinted that Morwe will be tasked with a strategy review for Transnet with a change of direction not being ruled out.
Tau Morwe … the right candidate to restore much-needed trust in the organisation.
