JOHANNESBURG - The Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has warned the public against scams promising employment by Transnet in exchange for payment.
The company said on Thursday that victims were being scammed by unknown persons, using information from legitimate Transnet vacancy ads, who were requesting payment to secure the advertised positions.
Ngqura port manager Tandi Lebakeng, said the company undertook regular campaigns in the media, on social media and across its operating divisions to try to warn "vulnerable job seekers" against the crimes.
“We empathise with the latest victims and have encouraged them to report these matters urgently to SAPS. We will also lodge a case with the police because the safety and security of one of our own recruiters has now been threatened. However, we state categorically that it is external fraudsters taking money from victims and this had nothing to do with Transnet.”
Lebakeng added that the scams were recurring and took place in various forms; Transnet was not the only major company to be preyed upon.
“Very often these victims are desperate jobseekers who truly believe that they are securing employment with us, which is unfortunate. However, we are quite clear in urging the public to practice caution and to familiarise themselves with the correct procedures for seeking employment with Transnet. No bona fide Transnet vacancy will ever require payment of any kind from a job seeker,” she said.
According to Transnet, the modus operandi of the scammers over the years included using the names of actual Transnet personnel, which are easily obtained from legitimate Transnet advertisements.
Other scammers set up false social media profiles in the name of senior Transnet representatives with the aim of extorting money.
The company also warned that a number of external websites and social media pages often advertised positions extracted from the Transnet portal on their own channels.
These are the safety measures the company has urged the public to remember:
1. Know that Transnet only advertises vacancies via its official online career portal on the Transnet website (www.transnet.net),
via recruitment agencies in national print media / newspapers, via official Transnet company pages on LinkedIn.
2. Application forms can only be found on the Transnet website or can be collected from an official Transnet Human Resources department, not from anywhere else e.g. public places or external collection points.
3. Transnet does not under any circumstances request payment from job applicants for applications, medicals or uniforms.
4. All Transnet email addresses must end with @transnet.net
5. No Transnet recruiter will ever share their cell number. Only office numbers are provided on Transnet vacancy adverts – never employees’ cell phone numbers.
6. All Transnet employment adverts should include grade levels (A, B, C, etc) and reference numbers for ease of tracking on the website.
7. No official Transnet job ad will ever include a salary scale.
8. Application forms will never be pre-completed on an application form.
9. All applicants must provide the vacancy reference number as it appears on the advertisement when responding.
10. All due diligence is followed by Transnet’s human resources departments when positions are advertised.