MPs seek Gama update from Hogan

[Steve Appleton]

This saga is not going away anytime soon by the look of it.
This from today's Business Day (September 9th, 2009), website article at:
http://www.businessday.co.za/Articles/C ... x?id=80959

MPs seek Gama update from Hogan
Published: 2009/09/09 06:15:54 AM

LINDA ENSOR

CAPE TOWN — Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan is to be called to Parliament next week to explain the events around the suspension of Transnet executive Siyabonga Gama and other matters related to Transnet’s board and management.

Parliament’s public enterprises committee took the decision yesterday after a briefing by Transnet executives on its 2008-09 annual report. The executives did not deal with the Gama affair, noting that a disciplinary process was under way for alleged irregularities regarding the awarding of two contracts.

Chairwoman Vytjie Mentor said the committee could not avoid an interest in the developments. It would need to make recommendations with deadlines attached to them. “It is not desirable that we should hear these things through the media. We need an official report,” she told reporters.

Mentor refused to agree with or reject a suggestion that as the African National Congress (ANC) had already declared itself in favour of Gama as the new Transnet CEO, the ANC members of the committee would inevitably push a similar line in their meeting with Hogan.

“You (the media) normally say that we must separate the party from the state. This is Parliament, so you can’t ask me about the ANC members of the committee as the chairperson of the committee. If you want to ask those questions, go to Luthuli House (ANC headquarters),” Mentor said.

She suggested during the meeting that Transnet’s succession planning had been inadequate as no replacement had been appointed for former CEO Maria Ramos who left nearly six months ago. There were also a number of vacancies at strategic level, she noted, with the chairman, CEO and chief financial officer all appointed in an acting capacity only.

Transnet acting CEO Chris Wells said Hogan was considering the nominations made for CEO. He said in an interview that Transnet’s performance to date was in line with the corporate plan drawn up in January.

“There are signs that things are slowly improving in respect of container and general freight volumes which went into free fall late last year and the early part of this year.

“That stabilised and there has been a slight increase in volumes over what was expected,” Wells said.

Container and general freight are the two biggest cash drivers for Transnet. Wells said volumes for the year were expected to be a lot lower than last year “but things are going better than we thought”.

Wells was confident that Transnet would be able to proceed with all its planned major capital projects — spending of R80,5bn is projected over the next five years — despite the recession. Wells also insisted that the drama about Gama had not affected Transnet’s capital-raising exercise. At the end of last month about 63% of the 2009-10 funding requirement of R13bn had been raised.