THE NEW Minister for Public Enterprises, Jeff Radebe, has denied claims that Spoornet had consulted with government over the planned retrenchment of up to 27 000 Spoornet employees.
He was speaking in the face of threatened strike action involving 40 000 Spoornet employees. The minister was also reacting to union claims that Spoornet management had advised them that 27 000 personnel were to be retrenched with government approval.
According to Chris de Vos, secretary-general of the South African Footplate Staff Association (Salstaff), Spoornet's chief executive Braam le Roux had quoted this figure while confirming that the process had government's approval and mandate.
I must make myself absolutely clear that, regardless of what trade union representatives may have been led to believe by reports or purported statements from management, the government has not yet been formally briefed by Transnet on any proposals or options that they have considered concerning the restructuring of Spoornet and has, therefore, neither considered nor adopted any position concerning future options for Spoornet at this stage. In particular, government has not adopted any retrenchment proposals for workers in Spoornet.
The minister reiterated that the government viewed the restructuring of all state assets and state-owned enterprises in a holistic manner that took into consideration the effect on economic development generally. This, he said, included sensitive consideration of the effects any restructuring would have on employment.
By Terry Hutson
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