Strong support has been
expressed by a senior
freight industry executive
for the reappointment of
Siyabonga Gama as CEO
of Transnet Freight Rail
(TFR).
This after he was recently
dismissed from TFR after a
disciplinary process found
him guilty of a number of
mismanagement charges.
“I must say that I’m a
supporter of Gama,” said the
FTW source who preferred
not to be named, “despite
the findings at the hearing.
“I’ve worked with him for
15 years, and I’ve never had
any negative with him.”
Indeed, the executive
added, his only
disappointment was that
Gama had gone back to the
rail arm of Transnet, rather
than into the ports network
in which he had previously
had extensive experience.
The point the executive
made was that Gama had
suffered because of that
technical “responsibility’
that a CEO has for the
adverse actions of one of the
members of the management
pyramid below him.
In his specific case Gama
had alleged responsibility
in a botched procedure for
a R6.5-billion tender for
212 locomotives, where
a “whistleblower” led
Transnet to believe there
was a corrupt relationship
between one of its officials
and one of the directors of
EMS, the preferred bidder.
Also, Transnet admitted that
it had made a mistake when
rating the black economic
empowerment (BEE) status
of the EMS SA-US jointventure.
The point that was made
at the time was that Gama
should possibly have noted
the discrepancies in the
bid in TFR’s review of the
tender procedure, and he
was dismissed because
of the “mismanagement”
involved in failing to do so.
At the same time our
freight executive contact
revealed that he also
supported the fact that
rail was a primary focus
of Transnet’s five-year
investment plans.
Of the R110.5 billion
which is intended to be
spent on rail, ports and
pipelines projects by 2016,
particular attention would
be given to backlogs in rail,
according to the parastatal
transport operation’s new
CEO, Brian Molefe.
Some R63.7 bn is targeted
at growth and maintenance
projects within TFR.
“We certainly need locos
and rolling stock,” said the
FTW source, “and that’s
what we should be getting
with this quick fix.
“I’ve no problems with
the fact that a few billions
have been allocated to this
end.”
Gama gets the thumbs up from senior freight industry source
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