State capture: Siyabonga Gama signed R18m Transnet contract with a golf partner



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Former CEO of Transnet, Siyabonga Gama.  Photo by Gallo Images

Former CEO of Transnet, Siyabonga Gama. Photo by Gallo Images

  • The company, General Nyanda Security, was awarded the contract without holding a public tender.
  • The company, owned by former MK chief and communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda, had no employees and was not registered when the contract was awarded.
  • Gama first denied knowing Nyanda, but later admitted to his acquaintance, saying that they meet and play golf together.

Former Transnet Freight Rail CEO Siyabonga Gama approved an 18 million rand contract in 2007 for a company linked to an acquaintance, claiming he did not know what he was signing.

General Nyanda Security (GNC), which was headed by former Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) chief and communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda, dubiously received the Transnet contract without conducting a public tender, according to evidence from Christopher Todd, a lawyer involved. in the disciplinary process of Gama by Transnet.

The disciplinary process found Gama guilty of three counts of misconduct.

One of the charges related to the award of the security contract to the firm of Nyanda, GNS, which he signed, claiming later during the disciplinary process that he had been led to believe that it had been formalized through the corresponding procedures when they handed him the documents. to sign.

Gama was not mandated to approve contracts exceeding R10 million.

Todd told the commission that Gama had initially stated during the hearing that he had no relationship with the owner of the business, but then changed tack after he was presented with phone records showing his interaction with Nyanda in the run-up to the award of the tender. .

He said he had denied knowing Nyanda because “too much was being done about it,” according to Todd’s evidence.

After his admission, Gama told the court that he and Nyanda were not close, but that they called each other and occasionally played golf together.

‘Deeply disturbing’

Todd described Gama’s capitulation as “deeply disturbing” given that the contract with General Nyanda Security should not have been entered into in a closed bidding process and the company had made an unsolicited pitch to Transnet.

It later emerged that the company was not registered with the private security industry regulator and had no employees. It was only registered months later.

The hearing also found Gama liable for his role in awarding an 800 million rand contract to a joint venture between a local company Sibanye Trade Services (STS) and a US company for the renovation of 50 locomotives for Transnet.

The subcontracting of the work was contrary to the board of directors, which wanted the remodeling to be carried out internally by the firm.

“He went against the board’s instructions and used a company called STS that he had an interest in,” Todd said. Gama contested his dismissal from the Freight Rail service as recommended by the court and challenged his verdict, claiming that the process was carried out unfairly.

“Mr. Gama had to climb a steep mountain to challenge his dismissal,” Todd said, adding that Gama believed he was being persecuted and that there were people within the company who were determined to impede his progress.

Gama was fired in 2010 and then reinstated in early 2011 with full pay.

He was eventually appointed Interim CEO of Transnet in April 2015, following Brian Molefe’s departure to head Eskom.

On Wednesday, Transnet’s former director general of legal services, defender Siyabulela Mapoma, told the investigation that the former president of the rail freight company, Mafika Mkhwanazi, had been instructed to “bring Gama back to Transnet.”

The investigation continues.

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