Former public enterprises director-general Portia Derby is one step closer to becoming the next boss of Transnet, the state-owned transport and logistics company.
The board of Transnet has endorsed Derby to become group CEO.
If the cabinet also gives its approval, she will lead an SOE that was controversially run by her former husband, Brian Molefe.
Molefe has been accused of approving contracts worth hundreds of millions to favour Gupta-linked companies.
Derby appeared to confirm her pending appointment when she told the Sunday Times that she went for a job interview because, "in the end I decided ukuthi ngiyathumeka [that I'm ready for deployment]".
Derby's pending appointment comes as the government tries to clean up the mess at state-owned companies.
Yesterday the head of the ANC's national executive committee's subcommittee on economic transformation, Enoch Godongwana, presented a report on SOEs.
Party insiders said there was agreement in the meeting that some SOEs be closed because there were many duplicated roles.
Debate on Godongwana's report had not taken place at the time of going to press. A heated debate was expected to take place on the state of Eskom and South African Airways and on the role played by public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan.
Sources in Transnet and the government told the Sunday Times that Derby had been selected after a rigorous process. She will take over from acting group CEO Mohammed Mahomedy, who was also a candidate for the job.
Gordhan is said to be preparing a report for consideration by the cabinet when it meets for the first time in 2020. It is thought the report will contain the names of the top three candidates who went through the interview process, with Derby's name at the top as the board's choice.
A Transnet insider, who asked not to be named, said Mahomedy had written to all top executives at Transnet last week to instruct them to compile handover reports for the new group CEO.
Those close to the selection process said Derby, who is the director of an economics advisory firm chaired by former trade and industry minister Alec Erwin, was chosen because of her strong leadership skills and vast governance experience.
Who best to run Transnet than the woman with whom Brian had a serious fallout over the Guptas? Who best to clean up the mess he created there? She is also highly qualified and experienced . she's perfect for this role
— a government insider
Her qualifications were considered crucial to turn Transnet into an efficient entity at the heart of President Cyril Ramaphosa's declared mission to improve the economy.
Derby worked with Erwin when she was COO of the department of trade & industry in the early 2000s.
In June 2018 she was appointed executive director for clients, Africa, at global engineering consultancy Auercon.
A government insider said her former association with Molefe was taken into account when the decision to recommend her for the top job at Transnet was taken. It was said that the couple fell out over Molefe's association with the Guptas.
"Who best to run Transnet than the woman with whom Brian had a serious fallout over the Guptas? Who best to clean up the mess he created there? She is also highly qualified and experienced . she's perfect for this role."
In a statement, Transnet chair Popo Molefe said the SOE had "received a number of media queries on the announcement of the new group chief executive and other outstanding executive appointments".
"Transnet will not comment on the appointment as the process is to be finalised with the shareholder minister, as it is waiting for cabinet approval," he said.
Later questions sent to Derby were not answered at the time of going to press.
If she accepts the position, Derby will have her hands full at the SOE where the top management structure is dominated by officials in acting positions because many senior managers have been suspended for their alleged roles in corruption.
A forensic report into the multibillion-rand locomotives contract at Transnet has revealed how Molefe and former Transnet CFO Anoj Singh introduced Gupta-linked Regiments Capital and Trillian to the company. The two companies went on to earn millions in consulting fees.
The report, compiled by Mncedisi Ndlovu and Sedumedi (MNS) Attorneys, identified Singh, Molefe and Siyabonga Gama - another former group CEO - as having fraudulently made Regiments and Trillian the lead consultants in the contract for the purchase of 1,094 locomotives.
The attorneys recommended that Molefe, Gama and Singh be criminally charged for their roles. The contract, to advise Transnet on how to structure a $1.5bn (R21bn) loan from the China Development Bank for its maximum benefit, was first granted to a consortium led by consulting firm McKinsey.
Molefe, Singh and Gama have denied any wrongdoing in the awarding of the controversial contracts.
- Additional reporting by Qaanitah Hunter
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