Employees take packages as Transnet purges 3 000 jobs

About 3 000 Transnet employees have taken retrenchment packages and walked away from the company – against the advice of their union, which is at loggerheads with the entity.

Steve Harris, general secretary of the United National Transport Union (Untu), said to his knowledge voluntary severance packages (VSP) were granted to 2 919 Transnet employees. He said R2.3 billion had been allocated for the payout.

He said among those who left the parastatal were 794 managers, about 200 train drivers, crane and lifting operators and artisans – considered scarce skills at Transnet.

“Four of the individuals who applied for a VSP are chief financial officers. The bottom line is that the VSP processes were abused. We were meant to meet again this week, however, due to alleged technical issues the meeting was suspended. The loss of experience and specialised skills will have detrimental consequences for our economy as error margins increase, and the time to train these new recruits will be extensive,” he said.

“It makes no business sense and they are shooting themselves in the foot. As a union we are at a stalemate with them, and have continued to advocate members not to take the VSPS.”

A Transnet employee who took the VSP said while she didn’t want to disclose the amount she received, it was a good sum.

“When you get offered money like that you feel as though you won the lottery, and it feels like that magic wand that solves all your problems and eases your burdens,” she said.

Another Transnet employee, who asked not to be named as he feared he would lose his job, said he had declined the offer.

“I definitely gave it a lot of thought and spoke to my wife about taking the VSP, but in the long run we feared that I might not be able to secure another job, and would then be left in the lurch. I did give it a lot of thought, but in the end I have no regrets because you see how people suffer from unemployment, and just how difficult it is to get a job.”

Transnet spokesperson Ayanda Shezi said they introduced the VSP programme in August as part of the company’s efforts to ensure sustainable cost reduction and long-term sustainability.

“Currently, Transnet’s fixed labour cost accounts for 67% of total costs, which is unsustainable. External factors such as subdued economic growth, exacerbated by the Covid19 pandemic, have strained our revenue streams, making it necessary for the company to consider costcontainment options,” said Shezi.

Shezi said the process was opened to all permanent employees in all areas of the business, but added that applications had closed on September 16.

“We have begun an analysis to determine where the company should focus in re-allocating, re-deploying and enhancing current skills and roles to ensure continued operations. A number of programmes focused on mentoring and transferring of critical skills have been started, such as the Silver Fox programme, which encourages employees who have been with the company for many years to transfer skills and knowledge to younger employees,” said Shezi.