'It actually shocked me' that Zuma wanted Gama as Transnet CEO - Hogan
12 November 2018
Former public enterprises minister Barbara Hogan told the judicial commission of inquiry into allegations of state capture on Monday that former president Jacob Zuma wanted Siyabonga Gama as the Group CEO of Transnet, despite him facing allegations of misconduct.
"It actually shocked me," Hogan told inquiry chairperson Deputy Justice Raymond Zondo.
"He then said to me: 'You may not appoint anyone to the board,' because the board also had to have changes, 'until Mr Gama's disciplinary was over'," Hogan said.
Hogan also said that Zuma and some Cabinet colleagues had "thwarted" her attempts to get Cabinet approval for board appointments.
"Finally, the inexcusable interference with my responsibilities as a minister by president Zuma that eroded my executive authority, and I refer in particular to Eskom in that regard."
Hogan also testified that the SOEs were left vulnerable when positions were filled by people acting in that capacity.
She said Transnet had an acting CEO and CFO by the time she assumed office.
Hogan said she had recommended Sipho Maseko to Zuma, because he had emerged as the leading candidate. However, the former president insisted on Gama for the Transnet CEO position.
Maseko is the current Telkom CEO.
She said Zuma had never raised concerns or any reasons why Maseko should not be appointed. She also added that she had found out a month or two later that the ANC supported Gama as a candidate for the job.
Gama was dismissed in October because of the board's lack of "trust and confidence" in him.
During the lunch adjournment, Transnet board chairperson Popo Molefe told News24 that Gama "is not coming back, regardless of the outcome of the court - he is out".
"The court can talk about whether the settlement we give to him of six months is fair or not. The court can't say to us: 'Keep in office the CEO that you can't work with who is not interested in the company,'" Molefe said.
Fin24 previously reported that Gama had challenged his termination and had said that Transnet had flouted fair processes by removing him without a disciplinary hearing.
But Molefe told Fin24 that the board was within its rights to dismiss Gama, who had failed to make representations as to why he should not be dismissed.
Scandals attributed to Gama include the loss of R151m during the procurement locomotive trains for the entity.
Meanwhile, despite the commission's legal team issuing notices to Zuma and other implicated persons two weeks prior Hogan's testimony, no one has applied to cross-examine the former public enterprises minister. News24
Update:
'I was cast as an anti-transformation racist' – Hogan on pressure to appoint Gama as Transnet head
Former public enterprises minister Barbara Hogan says former president Jacob Zuma "hung her out to dry" while she faced immense pressure from some of her colleagues who wanted her to appoint Siyabonga Gama as Transnet CEO.
Chairperson of the inquiry Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo asked Hogan if she was under enormous pressure to appoint Gama.
Hogan said: "I was under extreme pressure, [I] had to attend NEC (ANC national executive committee) and alliance meetings, some people were very, very nasty to me. I was cast as an anti-transformation racist. That really offended me," she said.
ANC, SACP, ANCYL supported Gama
She said she had recommended Sipho Maseko to Zuma because he had emerged as the leading candidate. However, the former president insisted on Gama for the position.
Maseko is the current Telkom CEO.
Zuma had never raised concerns or any reasons why Maseko should not be appointed, she said, adding that she had found out a month or two later that the ANC supported Gama as a candidate for the job.
Hogan mentioned that the ANC, SACP and ANC Youth League – which was led by Julius Malema at the time – had all issued statements in support of Gama, claiming he was being persecuted.
She said then minister Siphiwe Nyanda and minister of energy Jeff Radebe also made statements that Gama would become CEO, and that he was being persecuted as Zuma had been.
Radebe is currently chairing the advisory panel appointed to identify candidates and conduct interviews for the position of National Prosecuting Authority boss.
Targeted in the media
Zondo asked whether or not Cabinet members knew that there was a selection process that had to be followed, and that a successful black candidate had already been put forward.
Hogan said she was not certain, however, she had attempted to make her colleagues aware of Maseko as a successful candidate, but they were lobbying for Gama to be appointed, and no one else.
Hogan also told the commission that she was "targeted" in certain media articles for her opposition to Gama's appointment.
Hogan said the media carried stories that Gama was being sidelined in favour of a white candidate.
She said that the memorandum recommending Maseko had been withdrawn by the Cabinet secretary, on Zuma's instruction.
The former president had also then asked Hogan for three names to be put forward for the position of chairperson of the Transnet board, as Fred Phaswana had left, she said.
Minister in contravention of ethics act
"What I learnt from this experience and from what the president had said is that I would not be able to put before Cabinet any proposal relating to Transnet," she said.
Hogan told the commission that the Public Protector found that former minister Nyanda contravened Executive Members' Ethics Act on this issue.
Following Hogan's testimony on Monday, former Cabinet minister Nyanda told News24 that the Public Protector previously dealt with the matter.
"The Public Protector dealt with those comments that it is wrong for ministers to comment on matters of another department and an apology was offered," Nyanda said.
Gama was dismissed in October because of the board's lack of "trust and confidence" in him.
Hogan will continue with her testimony on Tuesday at 10:00.
