Johannesburg - Former Transnet chief executive officer Siyabonga Gama has told the Commission of Inquiry into state capture that his disciplinary charges in 2009 at the freight rail agency were a ploy to prevent him from succeeding Maria Ramos as the GCEO.
Gama was reacting to questions posed by the evidence leader advocate Anton Myburgh that his reinstatement to the post as CEO in April 2011 had been politically motivated and former president Jacob Zuma was behind it.
Advocate Myburgh based his questions on the testimony of former Public Enterprise Minister Barbara Hogan who testified about her short spell as minister in May 2009.
Hogan said after a month in office, she was summoned by Zuma to discuss the impending vacancy of group chief executive officer at Transnet following the then impending departure of Ramos.
According to Hogan, the then Transnet board had recommended the appointment of Telkom chief executive Sipho Maseko, but Zuma allegedly insisted on Gama or nothing.
In her testimony, Hogan insisted that Zuma was not ready for persuasion in spite of being aware that Gama was facing disciplinary charges of procurement irregularities during the same time.
“He insisted that we should wait for the completion of the disciplinary charges against Gama,” Hogan said.
According to Hogan, her refusal to consider Gama as the potential Transnet GCEO created sour relations between her and Zuma. She said that escalated after Gama was dismissed in June 2010.
Hogan said four months later she was also recalled from her position and replaced by Malusi Gigaba in November 2010.
The commission heard that Gigaba allegedly facilitated the appointment of a new Transnet board under Mafika Mkhwanazi in January 2011. The evidence further revealed that three months later, Gama was reinstated to his position.
During his testimony before the commission on Thursday, Gama confirmed the sequence of events but denied any political influence.
In his version to the commission, Gama said: “I appealed my dismissal at the Transnet Bargaining Council. I did not want to go back to Transnet. I wanted them to give me my money and go away.
“I wanted them to pay so much so that I could leave them in peace,” Gama said.
According to him, he was ill-treated compared to other senior executives who faced disciplinary charges against them. He said others were given full disclosures of the charges against them, but he was only given snippets of it.
“I was wrongly charged. Everybody knows there was a succession plan at Transnet. They would not have charged me if I did not apply for the post of group chief executive officer to succeed Maria Ramos,” Gama insisted.
He said he was approached by the Transnet board at his review application at the Bargaining Council to settle the dispute.
He said it was the Transnet board that asked to return to the freight rail agency as it was struggling financially.
“I dropped my review application at the Bargaining Council and returned to Transnet. I am not aware of any political influence in my reinstatement,” Gama said.
The hearing continues.
Political Bureau