Gama fired
Transnet board says he failed to say why he should not be sacked after he was allegedly implicated in acquisition of locomotives worth R54bn
Transnet has fired CEO Siyabonga Gama and will pay him out for six months.
In the notice of termination of employment letter served on Gama yesterday and seen by our sister newspaper Business Day, board chairman Popo Molefe said the CEO had failed to make representations by the October 15 deadline on why he should not be fired.
According to Transnet’s annual report, Gama received an annual salary of R8.1m in the 2018 financial year. Transnet had given Gama 10 days, until October 15, to show why his contract should not be terminated following investigations that implicated him in misconduct and maladministration in the acquisition of 1 064 locomotives for R54bn. “As a result of your failure to make representations, the board has therefore resolved to terminate your appointment as group chief executive on six months’ notice,” Molefe said in the letter. “You are not required to work out your notice period and will be paid six months’ remuneration in lieu of notice.”
Gama has been in the line of fire after investigations found that he, former CEO Brian Molefe, and Gupta associates may have acted unlawfully in relation to the purchase of the locomotives. Leaked Gupta emails contain claims that the Gupta family received multibillion-rand kickbacks as part of the locomotives deal. Gama’s removal comes after a new Transnet board was appointed by public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan as part of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s drive to root out corruption and improve the performance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
The Transnet board told Gama in the letter that his last working day would be Monday October 22 and that he was required to collect his belongings and return the SOE’s belongings, which included an iPad, cellphone, laptop and access keys. The board reminded him that he was obliged to keep company information confidential.
Last week Gama approached the Labour Court in Johannesburg in a bid to stop the board from terminating his contract.
The court on Friday stayed Gama’s application and ordered that the dispute between him and Transnet be referred to arbitration. This means it has put on hold any legal proceedings, effectively postponing any ruling on Gama’s application pending the outcome of the arbitration. Gama’s lawyer, Nano Matlala of MSMM, confirmed yesterday that his client had received the termination letter. He said he has advised Gama to write to the Transnet board chairman informing him that the decision to terminate his contract is “unlawful and null and void” and that the CEO should report for work. Matlala said they would enrol the matter in the Labour Court again on an urgent basis as the dismissal went against the say of the judge. “[The] judge makes it clear that an interdict can be granted when Transnet fails to comply with the contract of employment providing for arbitration. The Labour Court stayed our client’s application pending the outcome of the arbitration proceedings.”