Dear Sir/Madam I am Michelle Erica Newfeld and I have more than 20 years’ experience in the corporate environment. Of those 15 years was at Exco level within a division of Transnet. I am driven, ambitious, hard working, a strategic thinker, analytical, goal orientated and I enjoy striving towards the best solutions in an organization. My work experience started off in Finance, however I’ve been exposed to and managed various other support functions such as HR, Procurement, Property, Risk, Marketing and ICT. Some of these support functions I managed directly with staff in the various departments and some I managed indirectly with agreements or contracts in place with external stakeholders or other divisions within Transnet. I have also been exposed to work directly with Operations in order to improve support to them as well as improve the running of the organization. I took over the HR department in December 2010 as Acting HR Manager, and was appointed in October 2011 as the Financial and Support Services Manager (accountable for Finance, HR, Procurement and Property). Aside from performing the normal HR functions, I endeavored to look at the HR structure, the HR positions and the HR position holders. I successfully rewrote all the Job Profiles/Workbooks and had the jobs reevaluated. I also ensured that all processes were compliant to the BCEA and the company policies of Transnet. Any shortcomings with any of the policies especially with regards to the implementation was addressed with TNPA head office and amended where necessary. Due to my financial background, I had a keen interest in remuneration. This interest wasn’t only limited to the current policies and processes within the organization but also included researching best practices, legislation such as legislation stipulated by SARS, and thus trying to improve the process. I order to fully equip myself, I registered through SARA (South Africa Remuneration Association) and obtained a GRP Certificate (Global Remuneration Professional Certificate). I was given an opportunity to be exposed to and be mentored in remuneration from a corporate group level. Part of this exposure included being directly involved with policies with regards to remuneration, being part of the working committee when it came to salary increases and incentive bonuses as well as being represented on many forums. The division within which I worked at Transnet was responsible for Aids to Navigation along the coast of South Africa. That included the lighthouses, buoys, racons, AIS (Automatic Identification System), etc. Every four years the lighthouse authority (IALA) has a conference which is hosted by one of the participating countries. In 2010 South Africa had the privilege of hosting the 17th IALA conference in Cape Town. Committees were established in 2005/2006 to assist with the hosting of the conference. At first I headed the Finance Stream where I assisted through a tender process, in the adjudication of the conference organizers. Once the conference organizers were appointed, I headed up the Marketing Stream. My role included looking at the image and theme of the conference such as the logo; uniform and decor, printing of material, marketing of the conference directly and indirectly approving the daily editorial during the week of the conference, etc. The success of the conference is that to date it has had the most registered delegate attendance and many still regard it as the best hosted conference. I have been involved in many other projects during my career whether it was initiated by myself, TNPA head office or by Transnet group. Some of the other projects I was involved in was the implementation and installation of the fibre optic to Green Point lighthouse, Y2K, Culture Charter which was initiated by Transnet Group but from there many other smaller projects were initiated within the division I worked, etc. As an Exco member as well as due to the various portfolios I was accountable for, I was represented on many committees within the organization such as the Exco Committee, Project Committee, Risk Committee, Capital Committee, Internal Audit Committee, LBC (Labour Bargaining Council) Committee, Remuneration Committee, etc. As mentioned above, I enjoy working towards solutions within the organization, whether it is operationally, directly or indirectly relating to staff, strategically, etc. I don’t believe that various functions/departments within an organization should work in silos. The organization is one body and when there are silos the one hand will not know what the other hand is doing, nor what its capabilities are. Each department should strategically work towards the growth and sustainability of an organization. All support functions play a huge role aiding in the smooth and optimal running of operations whether it’s through following best practices, ensuring a safe working environment, provision of the best tools, providing trained staff, efficient supply management or ensuring optimal investments.