Transnet lays bare dirt of former execs

An air of loaded litigiousness descended on the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture as advocates representing various implicated parties settled into position for day two of senior counsel (SC) leading evidence on behalf of Transnet. The parastatal’s turn in front of Judge Raymond Zondo had begun the day before, and according to the programme, Transnet board chairman Popo Molefe’s testimony was due to have started that afternoon. But proceedings ran overtime, principally because Mahlape Sello SC pointedly worked her way through almost four hours of forensic findings and investigations that are still in progress. Such was the collective impact of her submissions, revealing as they did an insidious saga of criminal rot allowed to spread through the state-owned freight and rail company, the implicated parties who had allegedly benefited from tender irregularities significantly lawyered up the following day. Aerospace and transportation company Bombardier, as well as China North Rail, both multi-nationals who have been regularly mentioned as beneficiaries of the infamous 1064 locomotive purchase, suddenly had advocates in attendance. Also present was advocate Kennedy Tsatsawane, acting on behalf of erstwhile

Transnet CEO Brian Molefe, whose name, more than any of the other implicated executives, regularly popped up during his surnamesake’s testimony like a worm squeezed out of a crowded can. Working through what he knows methodically and with measured intent, Popo Molefe added emotive emphasis to the manner in which Transnet had been used as a “piggy bank by some individuals” – to paraphrase from a press conference the state-owned company (SOC) held earlier this year. In a gloves-off assessment of previous executives at the SOC, the struggle stalwart said: “Looking at what was happening to people at Transnet, how it was run by cliques and groups, and how these thieves and crooks were allowed to amass wealth for themselves, the Freedom Charter says that this should

not be case.” Pausing for effect, Popo Molefe looked at Zondo and added: “Transnet is supposed to have a developmental agenda, to create wealth that benefits the betterment of the lives of people.” Stopping short of saying that state capture amounted to treason, he said certain individuals had solid track records of participating in the process that freed South Africa, but somewhere along the line had fallen for the lure of lucre. “What they would do is surround themselves with cronies and identify those who were willing to help them. “And if you weren’t prepared to assist them, they worked you out. There was an instance of an engineer, someone with years of experience who ran an operating division. He was removed and substituted with a teacher.”