Ms. Portia Derby is the current Group Chief Executive of Transnet SOC Ltd, appointed February 2020. She has occupied senior positions in the South African government during a period of major economic reform. Portia is the former Director-General of Public Enterprises (2005 - 2009) responsible for Corporate Strategy and Structure of the Investment Portfolio (2004 - 2005) and former Chief Operating Officer of the Department of Trade and Industry (2002).
Portia’s career in government started at the National Institute for Economic Policy (NIEP), as a financial researcher where she played an integral role in working on the quantification of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP).
Portia previously served as a non-executive director of Metair Investments and Safcol. She has also worked in the private sector as an Executive Director: Clients Africa at Aurecon, an international engineering and infrastructure advisory company. Portia holds a Bachelor of Science Degree (majoring in Economics and Geology), an Honours degree in Economics from the University of Natal, as well as a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.