New leader has big plans for port
FACED with the mammoth task of elevating the Port of Richards Bay to greater heights, newly appointed Port Manager Thami Sithole says he is ready for the challenge.
Sithole, who now sits at the helm of one of the biggest ports in the country, was born in the rural town of Nongoma.
‘My mother was a nurse and my father a teacher. I moved to live with my father at eShowe while my mother continued to live in Nongoma. I then went to live with her in Maphumulo when she moved there
‘I matriculated at the Vukile
High School and I was one of four learners who passed with university exemption; but I was the only one who passed maths and science with top marks,’ he said.
However, despite his academic achievement, he could not afford to go to a tertiary institution.
‘The principal at Vukile High School at the time then asked me to come and teach maths and science because the teacher there was going abroad.
‘I taught there for a year until my uncle recommended I come to Johannesburg, which is when I applied to study at Medunsa. I did a BSc with the intention of getting into medicine.’
But his path to medicine was cut short when he could not afford to pay for his tuition.
‘My uncle then saw an advert for a CEO position in the newspaper and he suggested I look into that direction of study. So I enrolled at Milpark Business School and did my MBA(Master of Business Administration) and graduated in 2002.
This is what led him to his current position.
Sithole previously worked as Reporting Programme Manager in the Infrastructure and Engineering Department at the Port of Durban and later worked for seven years at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) before his recent return to Transnet National Ports Authority .
And now his main focus is growing the local port.
‘The Port of Richards Bay has been growing but when people talk ports they generally talk about the Port of Durban. We want to change that narrative.
‘We want the Port of Richards Bay to be at the level of Durban and even surpass it,’ he said.
He said part of his focus is also making a meaningful impact in the community while contributing to creating jobs and improving skills.
‘I think it is important for the community to feel part of the port and this will happen through the programmes we have, which include CSI projects. We are looking at various ways of how the youth and SMMEs can benefit,’ Sithole said.
He also emphasised the importance of forming partnerships with stakeholders with the common goal of making an impact in the economy.
‘This is why the Memorandum of Understanding we just signed is a great milestone to cement our relationship with the City and the RBIDZ, which is critical to our plans to ensure we attract investment to the country and particularly to the
City of uMhlathuze.
‘At planning level, you need to identify stakeholders and the city is a stakeholder so we must align ourselves with its development and growth; but what is most important is that we work together.’