A Durban company has accused Transnet of cheating it out of a deal and blocking off an emerging black-owned company.
AmaBhubesi Property Holdings (APH) alleges that Transnet Property, property manager for the parastatal, used underhand tactics to deny it a deal worth millions of rand.
AmaBhubesi director Kwazi Mbili laid it all bare to Sunday World during an interview this week.
Mbili said the deal entailed his company leasing the disused Durban International Airport for 10 years and using site ease congestion at Durban ports.
The airport is owned by Transnet and therefore controlled by its property wing.
Felt robbed and cheated against
“We were robbed and cheated against after spending R5m in consultation and professional fees. We did everything including a feasibility study,” said Mbili.
He showed Sunday World a letter in which Transnet greenlit the AmaBhubesi feasibility study.
Mbili is adamant that the contract was pulled from under AmaBhubesi’s feet.
“They pulled all the tricks in the book to ensure that as a black company we never got the deal. Transnet went ahead and signed a lease agreement with another party. We were shocked because Sea World [the preferred bidder] wanted to do something outside the mandate of the Transnet coal terminal,” he said.
Transnet acquired the airport in 2012. It forked out R1.85bn for the 800-hectare “open field” to Airports Company South Africa (ACSA).
Plan was to develop container holding port
Even back then the plan was to turn the site into a mega container port for heavy vessels. The project was supposed to be a job-opportunity driver creating at least 70 000 jobs. However, the plan failed to see the light of day.
In 2017, Transnet signed a 10-year lease with Sea World Aviation.
But unlike AmaBhubesi, which wanted to develop a logistics hub since cargo congestion is already a nightmare for the Durban Coal Terminal, Sea World Aviation wanted to revamp the airport.
Sea World planned to develop an airport for smaller airlines for visitors to Durban. The deal fell through when Sea World filed suit to force Transnet to remove other tenants at the airport. The company claimed the tenants had caused untold damage to key airport infrastructure including fuel tanks.
Touted to bring massive investment
Mbili said eThekwini metro’s Catalytic Projects Unit had already given the proposal the thumbs up. It said AmaBhubesi plan would bring much needed investment into KZN’s only metro.
“This project was a game changer which would have generated about R4bn annual turnover and created just over 18 000 permanent jobs,” he said.
Mbili said all they wanted was for Transnet to stay true to its commitment and give AmaBhubesi the contract. Sunday World has in its possession a plethora of letters sent to Transnet Board chairperson Andile Sangqu and CEO Michelle Phillips for their intervention. The matter has also reached the attention of the Public Protector and the parliamentary portfolio committee on transport.
Sangqu said he cannot comment on the matter because it was sub judice.
“I cannot comment on its merits because it has become a court matter. Besides, some of the things might have taken place before my tenure,” he said.
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