Workers at the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) say the subsidiary of state-owned company, Transnet, is a crime scene of corruption far worse than state capture.
The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) have sounded the alarm on alleged corruption scandals rocking TNPA and secret plans to privatise the lucrative state asset.
The union said this week it would request the Transnet board chairperson and the group chief executive to conduct an urgent investigation into TNPA CEO Pepi Silinga, including that he be removed from the position with immediate effect.
“There will be no turnaround of Transnet, but another Transnet State Capture 2.0, worse than what we have heard of,” Satawu general secretary Jack Mazibuko said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Corruption in Transnet is orchestrated by this leadership that could not wait to have their chance to come and loot and ultimately destroy this organisation,” he said.
Three years ago, Transnet appointed Silinga as TNPA CEO. Before that, Silinga served as CEO of Coega Development Corporation (CDC), an investment agency of the Eastern Cape government.
Satawu alleged that Silinga recruited the whole CDC team to TNPA, which he described as CDC 2.0. According to the workers’ union, those recruited had no experience coping in the highly regulated division of Transnet.
Mazibuko said: “To name a few, the CEO is from the CDC, the secretary [is from the] CDC, five members, executive managers, and senior managers, including fixed-term contractors, are all from the CDC.”
He claimed that TNPA’s procurement department was also staffed with ex-CDC employees.
He said the level of control Silinga enjoyed across the department was an incentive for “corruption and irregularities we have seen happening in the procurement space of TNPA”.
He called for an investigation urgently.
“We are not going to fold our hands and do nothing about the dying of Transnet while we see dubious characters like Pepi destroying this jewel of our country. This leadership couldn’t wait to have the opportunity to come and loot Transnet. It’s their chance now, so they think,” he said.
Mazibuko said the workers deserved an explanation from the executive why only CDC employees were qualified to be appointed to TNPA.
“Are they the only skilled people in South Africa because they worked for Pepi? We want to put it to you that this recruitment was irregular and full of corruption.”
He said the same CDC is currently a major implementing agency for all TNPA projects. “To list a few, the manganese terminal, fencing projects … Which procurement process was followed here?”
Mazibuko said TNPA owned the most expensive generators costong R1-billion, which were now white elephants because no environmental impact assessment was conducted.
He said a meeting of the national business committee heard on Tuesday that the generators had not been commissioned.
“Our question to Pepi is simple: what due diligence was done here before procuring these generators? Transnet is struggling, and yet money is spent on things that are not giving a return on investment.”
He said TNPA was struggling with marine services due to old tugs and unavailability.
“But Pepi saw it fit to prioritise generators over tugs. And guess what? Pepi is now considering outsourcing marine services, killing our South African marine skills.”
Mazibuko warned that there was a plan to privatise TNPA. “These skills can only be sourced from international companies, while we pride ourselves on TNPA having these skills. What does Pepi even know about maritime?”
He said Satawu had already challenged TNPA management through a labour dispute at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration on two matters: irregular procurement and irregular recruitment.
“The union wishes to also state that it has secured a certificate to strike in this matter, as it is clear to us that we can no longer watch from the sidelines and watch TNPA deteriorate”.
This is a developing story
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