Former Transnet executives Brian Molefe and Siyabonga Gama were granted bail amid fraud and corruption charges tied to a multi-million rand locomotive tender.
Rosetta Msimango/News24
Former Transnet executives Brian Molefe,Anoj Singh,Thamsanqa Jiyane and Siyabonga Gama were each granted R50 000 bail in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on Monday.The four have been charged with fraud and corruption tied to the controversial procurement of locomotives.The case was postponed to 6 October.
Former Transnet bosses Brian Molefe,and others were each granted R50 000 bail in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Molefe and Gama,both former Transnet CEOs,former CFO Singh and the parastatal’s former chief engineer Thamsanqa Jiyane,appeared in court after surrendering themselves to police at Brackendowns,south of Johannesburg.
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The four accused have been charged with fraud,corruption,and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act and the Companies Act.
According to the NPA’s Investigative Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC),the matter related to Transnet’s acquisition of the 1 064 locomotives back in 2014,which were supposedly needed to meet a rail-freight revival.
READ | Ex-Transnet bosses Molefe,Singh and Gama arrested for allegedly corrupt locomotive tender
However,the 1 064 locomotive project became embroiled in controversy,with allegations of corruption,irregular procurement processes,and inflated contract prices.
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According to the charge sheet,in April 2011,a five-year locomotive fleet plan was presented to the Transnet board of directors as part of the market demand strategy (MDS).
“The focus of the MDS was to expand and modernise the country’s port,rail and pipeline infrastructure over a period of seven years,with its focus being on capturing rail-friendly freight from road to rail,” IDAC spokesperson Henry Mamothame said.
Transnet subsequently issued the acquisition of 95,100 and 1 064 locomotives between 2011 and 2014 with an estimated cost of more than R60 billion.
“The procurement process revealed serious procurement irregularities and criminal offences in awarding of the three tenders,” the charge sheet read.
Former Transnet executives Brian Molefe and Siyabonga Gama were granted bail amid fraud and corruption charges tied to a multi-million rand locomotive tender.
Rosetta Msimango/News24
Former Transnet Siyabonga Gama was granted bail amid fraud and corruption charges tied to a multi-million rand locomotive tender.
Rosetta Msimango/News24
Former Transnet executive Brian Molefe was granted bail amid fraud and corruption charges tied to a multi-million rand locomotive tender.
Rosetta Msimango/News24
Former Transnet executive Siyabonga Gama was granted bail amid fraud and corruption charges tied to a multi-million rand locomotive tender.
Rosetta Msimango/News24
Ex-Transnet executives Brian Molefe,Siyabonga Gama,and Thamsanqa Jiyane were granted bail at the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court amid fraud and corruption charges tied to a multi-million rand locomotive tender.
Rosetta Msimango/News24
Mamothame said the bid,originally valued at R3.2 billion,allegedly ballooned to over R3.4 billion,an increase exceeding R231 million.
He said further procurements of 100 and 1 064 locomotives also raised red flags,with bid costs allegedly inflated from R3.8 billion and R38.1 billion to R4.8 billion and R54 billion.
“The accused all held key positions in Transnet,which was a state-owned entity. It was their duty to perform due diligence and ensure that Transnet got value for its money.
“They,however,are alleged to have enabled and ensured that costs were inflated and that their preferred bidder was unduly advantaged,” he said.
READ | EXPLAINER: State capture arrests: What you need to know about Brian Molefe,Anoj Singh
It has been further alleged that the controversial Gupta family were involved in the reportedly dodgy dealings around the locomotive contracts.
The State’s version is that Molefe,Singh,and Gama collected kickbacks from the Guptas at their infamous Saxonworld compound or Sahara Computers. The bribes were allegedly cash.
The State told the court that the four had been charged with fraud amounting to more than R5.1 billion.
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Prosecutor advocate Santhos Manilall told the court that the State did not oppose bail.
In his bail affidavit,Gama said he was informed on Monday that his involvement in the case related to his alleged receipt of large sums of cash from the Gupta family and his reported involvement in the irregular procurement of three major locomotive contracts at Transnet.
Jiyane,by way of affidavit,told the court that he was employed by Transnet in Saldanha Bay as a commodity officer from 2000 until the end of 2001.
From 2001,he was promoted to the position of junior procurement manager at Transit until the end of 2006.
In 2007,he said he was promoted to the position of senior manager until 2011.
He later became the chief executive of the company’s engineering division until his contract was terminated. He said he had since been farming commercially in KwaZulu-Natal.
Jiyane told the court that he intended to plead not guilty.
In his affidavit,Singh outlined his deep familial connections in South Africa,which he argued negated any risk of him fleeing the country.
Singh claimed he was actively involved in his three children’s lives,including financial support for their education and well-being.
He said:
I’m responsible for paying school fees,medical aid and other expenses.
He also highlighted the dependency of his 84-year-old mother for financial support and assistance due to her frail health.
Singh disclosed that he had been unemployed for some time after leaving Eskom in 2018 but now earned R50 000 monthly as a financial advisor.
Singh emphasised that he has no prior convictions and has always complied with conditions set by the court during his previous bail application.
Meanwhile,Molefe also highlighted his role as the main breadwinner for his family and revealed his reliance on chronic medication and a specialised diet due to his medical condition.
These circumstances,he argued,necessitate his release on bail to avoid undue personal and financial hardship.
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Molefe,an MK Party MP,said he could not fulfil his legislative duties in Parliament if denied bail.
Molefe expressed his shock at the recent charges brought by the State,highlighting that they related to the procurement of the 1064 locomotives.
“I was surprised to learn that the prosecutor in this matter,Manilall,who is also the prosecutor in the Moodley matter,called my attorney of record and advised that a decision had been made to charge me in relation to the acquisition of the 95 and 1 064 locomotives,” Molefe said.
According to Molefe,these charges overlap with a separate case,the Moodley matter,in which he and his co-accused were already implicated.
The charges Molefe referred to relate to the controversial McKinsey contract to advise Transnet on procuring 1 064 locomotives for Transnet from a Chinese supplier,in which the Guptas scored billions of rand.
Millions of rands flowed from McKinsey to Regiments Capital and Trillian Asset Management.
News24 previously reported that Chief Justice Raymond Zondo found that Molefe,Gama and another former senior executive were at the centre of the “Gupta racketeering enterprise”.
“The ostensibly new charges are so intrinsically linked that any prosecutor or investigating officer acting rationally and reasonably would have added new charges against my co-accused and I in the Moodley matter as opposed to initiating new charges against us,which are founded on the same factual and evidential metrics as the Moodley matter and would in the main require many witnesses already listed as witnesses,” Molefe said.
Molefe said the prosecution possessed the evidence for years but failed to act transparently or consistently.
“I submit with respect that I should never have been arrested on these charges.”
Manilall argued that the case revolved around allegations of criminality related to multi-billion-rand locomotive procurement contracts,distinct from previously heard matters involving Transnet.
“Without having the evidence on this particular matter,how can they compare with the evidence on that particular matter?
“They cannot do that,and it is mere speculation based on what they know on the transactional advisory matter and what they have seen by the mere mention of the 1 064 locomotives,” he said.
ALSO READ | Brian Molefe's legal woes: Three looming battles as one case is dropped
Manilall elaborated that while the transactional advisory matter resulted in the acquisition of 1 064 locomotives,the present case involved separate procurement issues,including contracts for the acquisition of the locomotives.
“It was the procurement of the transactional advisors on confinement. What resulted from that contract was the acquisition of the 1 064 locomotives.
“There are also corruption charges being preferred against the accused before court. It stems from the transactional advisor. The advice provided in respect of the loans on the transactional advisory matter,which led to the procurement for the 1 064 locomotive,” he said.
According to Manilall,the transactional advisory matter was an entirely separate contract,and making comparisons between the two cases was “flawed”.
“They are making all the assumptions that it is connected.”
The case has been postponed to 6 October.
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