The CEO of Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) Siza Mzimela has resigned. 

Mzimela sent out a letter to staff on Thursday reminding them of the progress made in the past three years, thanking them for their service, and urging them to not give up the fight to make TFR work. 

Mzimela has come under enormous pressure from the Transnet board over the past four weeks to resign. TFR has performed poorly during her tenure with volumes dropping to dramatically. 

The consequence has been that the mining sector missed out on an export commodity boom with two major coal producers planning to retrench employees.

Rail export volumes have fallen from a high of 213-million tons in 2018/2019 to 149 million tons in the last financial year. While Transnet has experienced a number of shocks that have been outside of its control, including the pandemic, rising crime, flood damage, and a cyber attack, there has also been evidence of shocking management failure. A lack of basic controls and outdated systems contributed to the company achieving only 25% of its targets in the past financial year. 

This comes less than a week after Portia Derby called it quits as Transnet CEO.