South African Business 2016 edition

INTERVIEW TPL celebrates

INTERVIEW TPL celebrates 50 years Sharla Chetty, Chief Executive of Transnet Pipelines, recalls some of the highlights of the past half a century. Sharla Chetty, CE BIOGRAPHY Sharla Chetty is the Chief Executive of Transnet Pipelines. She attended the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg for her undergraduate and honours degrees in Accounting. She served her articles with Deloitte in Durban and this experience included a stint in the Houston offi ce of the fi rm in the US. Sharla joined Transnet in 2003 in the corporate fi nance offi ce of Transnet Port Terminals as an accountant. Since then she has held several senior positions within the two large Transnet divisions that operate in Durban. Transnet Pipelines celebrates their 50th anniversary in 2015. What have been some of the company’s highlights? On 1 November 1965, Transnet Pipelines (then SA Pipelines) injected the fi rst slug of premium petrol into the new 500km Durban to Johannesburg pipeline. The pipeline was built to alleviate the heavy burden placed on the rail system which transported 12-million gallons (45.4-million litres) of petrol using 2 000 rail tank cars. Since then the network has expanded and today Transnet Pipelines has 3 800km of petroleum and gas pipelines. We transport around 17 billion litres of petroleum products and over 490 cubic metres of gas. The company has grown immensely – in the last 20 years revenue increased from R442.7-million to R3 246- billion, even though our headcount remained fairly consistent around the 650 mark. Over the years we’ve established a good track record within the industry and our customers, and we’re especially proud of our safety record, with no Pipeline employee fatalities for over 35 years. This safety mindset has helped us to achieve a NOSA 5 Star Rating and ISO14001 accreditation. Future growth plans for the organisation We will constantly ensure that we have suffi cient capacity to keep up with demand and fulfi ll our strategic role in the supply chain. We’re currently working closely with Transnet Freight Rail to ensure we provide an integrated, seamless service to customers and would like to expand this further into the value chain by operating and maintaining depots not owned by TPL. We would also like to share our extensive skills, knowledge and expertise beyond South Africa’s borders. The School of Pipelines is well positioned to offer various courses in pipeline maintenance and operations to other companies and countries. To what do you attribute the success of TPL? Taking the vision of our pioneers and the excellent foundation they gave us to build the company from strength to strength. This has been achieved with the excellent support from various stakeholders and leaders. We’ve also been fortunate to have a dedicated workforce where every team member realises the role they play in the organisation’s success. Add to that the respect of our clients and suppliers and you have our success story. On a personal note, I believe we will remain successful by providing a platform for continuous growth. SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2016 78