Durban – The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu), one of the biggest labour unions organising within Transnet, is up in arms over an “unneeded” security fencing tender that has ballooned from R17million to R105m.
The union said the project was not necessary as the state-owned company is claiming to be battling a cash crunch.
As such, the union feels that it should be saving money where necessary because any retrenchment or privatisation will affect workers.
The fence is currently under construction.
The project started from the Point side and is expected to end at Bayhead – which means it will cover about 30km.
The union claims that the Clear Vu fence that is being used to replace the palisade one is not of high quality.
This was first raised in an internal document where the union raised a number of objections and vowed that it would oppose any attempts to bring in private investors, fearing that would lead to privatisation.
Union members took on a discreet tour of the project and pointed out several issues of concern while it is still under construction.
Among the issues that were raised was that in some parts, like those near Bayhead, the fence is already falling apart.
The union also raised concerns that the project was removing palisade fencing that was still in good condition, to the extent that it withstood the floods in April last year.
Thato Koali, from the Durban branch of Satawu, said it was clear that the project was never needed.
“We are aggrieved by the project mainly on two reasons: the very first one is the safety part of it.
“For us, it doesn’t make sense to demolish palisade and replace it with a Clear Vu one, safety-wise. Everyone could easily access what is referred to as a national key point.
“The other portion is the financial part of it and we have been made to believe that the whole construction of this fence jumped from R17m up to R105m,” he said.
He claimed that when Transnet group CEO Portia Derby visited the harbour, they raised the matter with her and she claimed that she was not aware of it.
“She said she was not aware of the dubious fencing project and asked to be given time to investigate it and give us a report.
“We are still waiting for her to come back to us as we want to know the rationale behind it,” he told .
In response to Satawu’s claims that the project was not necessary, Transnet said there have been several incidents that warrant upgrading the fence.
“There has been an increase in the number of incidents taking place within the port that have caused threats and risks to the port and its users.
“Easy access into the port and no adequate fencing around the port limits called for the implementation of various security measures to fully secure the port.
“In addition, the events that occurred during South Africa’s public unrest in July 2021 introduced new threats and security risks to TNPA (Transnet National Ports Authority).
“The security breach at the South African Parliament in Cape Town also triggered a security concern for TNPA.
- The fencing of the port will therefore enable the port to enjoy the following benefits: Restrict access into the port for unrelated port activities.
- Control and monitor traffic through creation of entrance plazas at all precincts.
- Secure the port as a strategic asset of the country.
- Further enhance the port’s compliance to the International Ship and Port Facility (ISPS) Code.
- Enhance effective security fencing for the port,” Transnet said in a written response.“
Furthermore, Transnet said the costs ballooned because further threats were detected and they had to make additional efforts to deal with them.
“In 2019, the TNPA capital investment committee approved a business case for the Port of Durban’s security fencing infrastructure project at a cost of R16 997 536.
“The project was going to address some of the identified critical security threats, but the port would still have not been adequately compliant.
“Following the public unrest of July 2021, TNPA leadership and other stakeholders formed a task team to look into the readiness of South African ports in dealing with these new security threats and risks.
“The port thereafter reviewed its original plans and the fencing project, resulting in the development of an additional scope to comprehensively cover the port.
“The additional scope was considered and incorporated in the originally approved business case where it was concluded that TNPA would discontinue the use of steel palisade fencing in favour of Clear Vu type of fencing,” it said.
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