The Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan has commended Transnet for resuming operations. The company had declared a force majeure at SA ports owing to last week’s cyber attack on state-owned Transnet’s IT system which led to chaos and disruptions at the country’s key container terminal. This restoration of operations is good news for the economy because Transnet ports and rail system are the backbone of the economy.
Read: Cyber attack disrupts major South African port operations
Gordhan started interactions with customers jointly with Transnet management and they established a platform for engagement with CEO’s and senior representatives of affected companies. This platform enabled timeous communications and feedback from both the customers and Transnet, and enabled exchange of information and of similar experiences faced by other countries and how they resolved such challenges.
As feedback to the daily meetings held between customers and Transnet port management, the customers have expressed their satisfaction on how the process of recovery and contingency planning has been executed. The shipping lines, accounting for 70% of the cargo moving across the ports, have given the assurance that the South African Ports will not be bypassed, and they will continue to work with Transnet during this recovery period.
The preliminary assessment of the cyber-attack indicates that Transnet and its customer data hasn’t been compromised.
Cyber-attacks have been on the increase in the country and globally. Investigations are underway into the events and due process will take place.
Government commends the leadership of the affected companies for their patience while Transnet worked to restore full operations. Credit goes to the Transnet IT teams who have ensured that the system is restored within a week.
Transnet is accelerating the work on strengthening the weaknesses identified in the IT environment. The force majeure is currently in place and under review with the intention to lift it in the coming days.
The speedy recovery has mitigated against the possible job losses that may have been threatened by a prolonged disruption to the IT systems.
Minister Gordhan commends the hard work that all employees at Transnet have put in to restore full operations at the ports. The Minister and Transnet management would like to thank the industry players who have taken the time to engage, offer support and collaborations during this difficult time.
Further updates will be provided as full functionality is restored.
