Transnet demands double salaries back, unions say glitch not employees’ fault

January seemed like a blessing for Transnet freight rail employees when they discovered that their salaries were doubled, but now the employer is demanding that they pay back the cash as soon as possible.

Although Transnet would not comment on the matter and cited confidentiality, unions say a technical glitch occurred when management switched from one bank to another, resulting in double payments.

United National Transport Union (Untu) and SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) have slammed the state entity’s insistence that the extra money be paid back within two months.

The labour unions say most of their members prefer that their accumulated leave days be deducted as reimbursement, instead of cash back.

Several meetings have been held this month, but no agreement has been struck.

Transnet ‘flouting employment act’

The deputy secretary at Untu, John Pereira, accused the state-owned enterprise of breaching clause 34 of the Basic Employment Conditions Act.

“Clause 34 2(d) says an employer is not allowed to take more than a quarter of someone’s salary for repayments.

“That’s what we’ve been fighting over. They can at least suggest four instalments.

“Employees have always had an option of encashing their accumulative leave days. This is voluntary and not something that can be enforced. They have requested to utilise their accumulative leave days to enable them to pay the monies owed.”

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Satawu deputy secretary Anele Kiet said those who can afford to repay in cash can do so within 12 months, as per the existing collective agreement between the parties.

“We had a discussion with management on Monday, and they came up with various suggestions that are not even in line with the collective bargaining agreement.

“We opposed that as unions, because Transnet clearly wants to get the money back as quickly as possible. We rejected their two-month deduction option because this [overpayments] was not the workers’ fault,” Kiet said.

Pereira said: “Should our members receive letters of demand from the employer, we will take that to our lawyers, whom we’ve already consulted.

“We will either go for an interdict or take them to the Department of Labour, because what they are trying to do is unethical.”

Freight rail unit spokesperson Mary Pappaya declined to comment on how the overpayments came about.

“These are confidential matters about our employees and in lieu of the POPI Act, we are not commenting at all.”

The POPI Act is meant to protect the personal information of individuals, and not that of State-Owned Entities and wrongful behaviour.

SOE in the red

The two unions said that Transnet freight rail, previously known as Spoornet, is in a financial quagmire and desperately needs the money.

“We started off by suggesting repayments for six to 12 months, but they refused and said they need the money back as they are cash-strapped as always.

“Luckily for them, there’s likely only 30% of workers who haven’t paid yet. They have already clawed back significant amounts. They need the cash to fund contracts and also be able to pay salaries for this month,” said Pereira.

Economics says Transnet’s cashflows are constrained, despite Moody’s improved rating for the entity last month.

Last year, the state-owned enterprise’s freight rail division called for private sector bidding to operate its rail container corridor between City Deep in Gauteng and Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.

The container corridor links the Port of Durban to the Gauteng economic hub through an extensive rail network of roughly 714km.

The lease would enable third parties to operate key parts of the railway, but the ownership would remain under Transnet.

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