Pretoria - Two senior employees at the Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) have been suspended following investigations into alleged irregularities into the award and implementation of a multi-million rand tender.
In a statement on Monday, Transnet said the two had been suspended following a forensic investigation.
"The two employees have been charged with serious misconduct, including willful or gross negligence and manipulation of tender processes, in relation to the irregular award of a contract for security services at TFR.
"The governance breaches caused the company to incur irregular expenditure as contemplated in the Public Finance Management Act," said Transnet.
The company further added that the suspensions were because of the seniority of the two employees as well as to allow further investigations to be carried out without interference.
The contract in question was awarded in a confined process meaning without an open tender process being conducted or other qualifying bidders being invited.
"The confinement for the security services in question did not follow the required governance processes.
"The confinement was approved by the suspended chief executive of TFR, who did not have the requisite delegated authority, and is undergoing a disciplinary process, amongst others, in connection with this confinement," added the company.
Transnet said it is committed to upholding the highest standards of corporate ethics and governance.
