Former Transnet executives Thabo Lebelo and Pathhutshedzo Mashamba, as well as their wives in SIU’s crosshairs.
The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) and Transnet have reached a settlement agreement with Liebherr, a Swiss-based equipment manufacturing company, for the irregular award of two tenders for the supply of cranes to Transnet.
The SIU said Friday that SIU, Transnet and Liebherr reached an agreement on December 31, 2022 to void and review the bids, which were awarded in 2013 and 2014. The SIU found that the decision to award the bids was irregular.
The review app is scheduled to launch this year.
At about the same time that the bids were awarded, Liebherr made a payment of $3.2 million, or R54 million, to a sales agent called Accurate Investments Limited. Accurate Investments has been linked by AmaBhungane to a series of bribery schemes allegedly linked to the Gupta family.
READ | GuptaLeaks: Bribes for Transnet crane contracts
The full amount that Liebherr paid to the sales agent was reimbursed to Transnet as part of the settlement, despite the fact that the SIU found no evidence that the payments made were corrupt or fraudulent. Liebherr agreed to repay the sum without prejudice, meaning that it retains its legal rights.
The agreement provides for an audit of vendor development obligations under the contracts, which could reveal whether Transnet suffered any losses from the contracts. The agreement provides a mechanism for the matter to be resolved if Transnet is shown to have suffered losses.
All the cranes covered by the contract were supplied to Transnet by Liebherr and are being used by Transnet’s port terminals.
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