South Africa’s freight and rail parastatal has reacted with curt candour after news broke this morning that Transnet had sacked three executives – Nonkululeko Sishi, Lenny Moodley and Shulami Qalinge.
This comes after Daily Maverick (DM) reported that they had been dismissed after being implicated as beneficiaries of corruption at the SOC during the State Capture years.
Sishi was group human resources officer and Moodley and Qalinge respectively chief executives of the Pipelines Division and Transnet National Ports Authority.
Transnet, a primary State Capture vehicle through which billions were defrauded by former parastatal CEOs Brian Molefe and Siyabonga Gama in concert with the fugitive Gupta brothers, apparently confirmed the dismissals in an internal memo seen by DM.
Journalist Ray Mahlaka wrote that “Sishi and Moodley faced disciplinary hearings after Transnet suspended them on 5 March and 3 May 2019 respectively.
"They were accused of misconduct relating to ‘breaches of Transnet processes and ethical standards expected of a senior manager’.
“Qalinge is the third executive to leave the company. She was suspended on 8 March 2019 and was subjected to a disciplinary inquiry on similar misconduct charges faced by Sishi and Moodley.”
Approached for comment on the matter earlier today, Transnet media liaison officer Nompumelelo Kunene released the following statement:
“Transnet SOC Ltd can confirm that that the company has recently reached agreement to part ways with a number of senior executives.
“The departure of the executives has also been noted by the Transnet Board of Directors.
“The recruitment process to fill the positions has commenced.
“It is not Transnet policy to discuss employee matters in the public domain.”
