Pepi Silinga placed on precautionary suspension
Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) chief executive Pepi Silinga has been placed on precautionary suspension over allegations of mismanagement and corruption related to a fencing tender.
Transnet chair Andile Sangqu announced the suspensions of Silinga and two general managers on Friday, saying the precautionary measures would be in place while an investigation unfolded into how a fencing contract had ballooned from R80m to R300m.
One of the complaints under investigation was that Silinga had allegedly irregularly appointed the Coega Development Corporation for the construction of the fences at the Ports of Durban, Richards Bay and Saldanha Bay. Coega is Silinga’s previous employer.
In a statement, Sangqu said the state-owned rail, port and pipeline company was fully committed to dealing decisively with allegations concerning activities at the ports authority.
“The Transnet board and TNPA board have been fully briefed and made the decision to place the chief executive of TNPA and two general managers on precautionary suspension while the allegations are investigated.
“Transnet will do everything to expedite these investigations, which are being conducted by an independent law firm and a forensic firm. Transnet will take any further action as necessitated by the outcome of the investigations.
“Every effort will be made to ensure that fair labour processes are followed and that the interests of Transnet and its employees are protected,” Sangqu said.
In January, Silinga took a leave of absence while Transnet appointed an external law firm to investigate the allegations levelled against him.
The complaints were raised by the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu), which wrote to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).
The SIU previously said it was evaluating whether Satawu’s complaints formed part of an existing proclamation authorising the unit to investigate allegations of maladministration and irregularities at Transnet, or if it needed to activate a new process.
Silinga resisted resigning from Transnet in late 2023, reportedly telling his staff that he would not go quietly after a spate of resignations by executives that included the company’s group chief executive, Portia Derby, chair Popo Molefe and Transnet Freight Rail chief executive Siza Mzimela.
The resignations came amid Transnet’s continued poor financial and operational performance by its freight rail and port services, which are struggling to reverse backlogs.
Satawu spokesperson Amanda Tshemese welcomed Silinga’s suspension.
“It is long overdue. We questioned his leave of absence as the matter was already being investigated. Pepi is an employee of Transnet and he must be treated as such.
“There’s nothing special about him. Senior managers are facing similar allegations and they are on suspension.
“So it did not make sense why he was not suspended even after the SIU launched its probe against him.”
Silinga had not responded by the time of publication to questions sent to him.
The Herald reported in early February on the contents of an internal letter from Silinga to Transnet group executives, in which he said staff at the ports authority head office in Gqeberha were allegedly being intimidated for refusing to sign off on contracts that did not make sense.
Silinga said in the letter that after the allegations against him were published, Transnet was “not short of facts to detail the counter narrative [to] the lies”.
He explained that a decision had been taken to roll out the TNPA’s national security fence project, which had been revised from the provision of partial fencing to full fencing in light of the July 2021 unrest in KwaZulu-Natal.
“As part of the revised rollout strategy and the need to accelerate capital spend, TNPA elected to use an implementing agent, namely Coega Development Corporation, to procure fencing for the Ports of Saldanha, Ngqura, Durban and Richards Bay.”
He said had the upgrades not been done according to the International Maritime Organisation standards, the ports would have lost the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code certification.
“To mitigate this threat, TNPA had to ensure that its revised security strategy was implemented expeditiously.
“This led to the appointment of an implementing agency as TNPA’s processes were seen to be lengthy and cumbersome and would not address the urgent requirements for implementation.”