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The United National Transport Union (UNTU) has accused Transnet of misleading the public when it announced its relocation from Johannesburg to the Port of Ngqura in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth).
UNTU Spokesperson Sonja Carstens says not only did they learn about the relocation in the media but they also visited the eMendi building at the Port of Ngqura where nothing was in place.
She says Transnet could not even provide them with a floorplan.
The Union also expressed its concern over the cost involved in relocating its members.
General Secretary of UNTU Steve Harris says the building is too small to accommodate the initial figure of 400 affected employees.
“They will be packed like sardines even if Transnet only relocates 250 employees,” he added.
He says Transnet announced the relocation in bad faith before it started its consultation with the Union.
Harris called the move a political stunt to create the expectation of job creation.
He says it does not make business sense for Transnet to relocate the head office of Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) to a remote port that currently does not even have public transport for its employees.
Harris says Transnet did not think about how the relocation would affect families as spouses would now have to find work in the city and children will be uprooted from their schools.
UNTU believes that this relocation could even result in divorces as couples have assets in Johannesburg and would have to sell their homes during a global pandemic.
In January, the Eastern Cape Government welcomed TNPA's decision to relocate its headquarters to Nelson Mandela Bay.
TNPA is the first State-Owned Entity to relocate its head office to the Eastern Cape, however, the move has not been welcomed by all.
Shortly after the announcement, Moneyweb reported that organised business bodies in Durban, including the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), the KwaZulu-Natal Growth Coalition and the South African Association of Shipping Operators and Agents (Saasoa) had expressed shock and disappointment at the move, saying the industry was not consulted.
The 10 000 square-metre eMendi building, completed at a cost of R255 million in 2017, includes a gym, training rooms, canteen, boardrooms and undercover parking.
Staff are supposed to relocate by the 1st of April.
Transnet has been approached on the accusations and AlgoaFM News is awaiting their comment.
