Parliament, Saturday, 4 November 2023 – The Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises had an engagement with organised labour this week on Transnet’s governance, financial and service delivery challenges.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the
South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) and United National Transport Union (UNTU) all made presentations. The meeting comes at a time of governance challenges at Transnet, as several top executives have resigned from the company in recent months.
Briefing the committee, COSATU said it is extremely concerned about the poor state of infrastructure, finances and management at Transnet and Portnet, which in its view are both rapidly declining. Governance is also in a bad way and most senior leadership has resigned.
SATAWU said infrastructure and rolling stock are both in need of investment, so that the rail sector can expand to compete with the road freight industry. In addition, new environmentally friendly machinery needs to be purchased and the old refurbished. This would enhance productivity and reduce carbon emissions.
UNTU in its presentation said much of the blame for Transnet’s current status can be attributed to the legacy of state capture. In addition, the ongoing practice of financing debt by incurring more debt impacts negatively on Transnet’s cash flow. This limits the money available to finance operational costs and the capital investment needed to improve the entity’s prospects.
Committee chairperson Mr Khaya Magaxa welcomed this input and said the committee understands the challenges the unions face. The committee has scheduled a meeting with Transnet and Mr Magaxa said some of the issues arising in this engagement will be aired in that meeting. The committee is of the view that it needs to listen to the collective to understand the situation.
Responding to questions from the committee about private/public partnerships (PPP), SATAWU said the partnerships that government introduced are wrong policy decision, which were forced on employees and which the unions objected to. SATAWU said you cannot have PPP come and resolve issues of road freight sector.
Mr Magaxa said the presentations provided a clearer understanding of the situation among Transnet’s employees.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISES, MR KHAYA MAGAXA.
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