Troubled South African Rail Monopoly Defends Pace of Recovery

South Africa’s state logistics company said it’s doing the best it can within the constraints it faces and is making some progress, after being blamed by business and government for sapping economic growth and costing jobs.

Michelle Phillips, who took over as Transnet SOC Ltd.’s chief executive officer in February, was criticized over the company’s failure to lift rail-freight volumes by government ministers at an Aug. 13 meeting, people who attended said. A day later, at a public presentation, an official from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said mining firms were firing people because of the company’s inability to move their production to ports.