In a move reminiscent of the erstwhile SA Railways Police, Transnet security officers have been empowered to make arrests and assist law enforcement agencies with investigations in a bid to curb criminality and theft of infrastructure that has cost the state-owned freight rail and logistics company more than R5bn over the past few years.
The railways police, which was established in the 1930s to police the country’s railways and harbours, was known to use brute force to quell lawlessness and protect railway infrastructure from theft and vandalism. The force was disbanded about 36 years ago, with its functions, members and assets transferred to the then SA Police, now the SA Police Service (SAPS).
Of the 468 railway stations Metrorail operates, 317 are owned by the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa), with the rest belonging to Transnet Freight Rail.
In a statement on Tuesday, Transnet said it welcomes justice and correctional services minister Ronald Lamola’s approval for Transnet security officers to be granted “peace officer status”, as published in Government Gazette on August 5.
As peace officers the personnel would be able to make arrests, assist the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) with prosecutions, search premises, facilities and people, and ensure that suspects are charged correctly, Transnet spokesperson Ayanda Shezi said.
The initiative was expected to improve Transnet’s security response in protecting its infrastructure such as the rail and fuel pipeline network.
More than 1,500km of cable has been stolen from Transnet Freight Rail over the past five years, costing the parastatal R4.1bn, with Transnet Pipelines losing about 30-million litres of fuel, which cost the company R1.1bn, over the past three years.
“One of the things we have never been able to get on top of is that we have never been able to arrest the kingpins,” said Transnet group CEO Portia Derby, during the launch of 2021/2022 financial year results in July.
Shezi said the security officers would go through “rigorous training” in compliance with the Safety and Security Sector Education and Training Authority requirements. “On the successful completion of the training, candidates will be awarded a certificate of competency by the national police commissioner and receive SAPS appointment letters and Transnet appointment ID cards”.
Transnet is among state-owned enterprises that were looted and hollowed out during years of state capture when Jacob Zuma was president.
However, since the new board was appointed in 2018, and under chair Popo Molefe, Transnet has been moving to clean up the entity and take action against those implicated in maladministration and malfeasance.
Those who have since been fired by Transnet include group CEO Siyabonga Gama, HR officer Nonkululeko Sishi, pipelines CEO Lenny Moodley, and National Ports Authority CEO Shulami Qalinge.
Meanwhile, for the 2021/2022 financial year, Transnet’s revenue increased by 1.8% to R68.5bn, “in line with increased petroleum and container volumes due mainly to improved economic conditions”.
While the group booked R5bn earnings after suffering a R8.7bn loss in the previous year, it said 2021/2022 proved to be a challenging year, with significant operational impediments, including availability of locomotives, security of assets from theft and vandalism, cyber attack, July 2021 unrest, weather conditions, and voluntary severance packages (VSPs).
“Net operating expenses decreased by 5.9% to R45bn, due mainly to the impact of the third-party settlement received partially offset by the provision for voluntary severance packages,” Transnet said in its financial documents.
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