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Hatch Global project manager Henk Bester said the company was to receive a rail expansion, but that it was held back by a memorandum of understanding submitted by the joint venture.
Screenshot of Hatch’s former managing director of railways, Henk Bester, who appeared in the state capture investigation in Johannesburg on October 20, 2020. Image: SABC / YouTube
JOHANNESBURG – The state capture commission has heard how Transnet CFO Anoj Singh forced engineering firm Hatch Global to partner with a company owned by Nalen Padayachee and Dave Reddy.
Hatch Global project manager Henk Bester said the company was to receive a rail expansion, but that it was held back by a memorandum of understanding submitted by the joint venture.
He said Rudie Basson told him that Singh had chosen the Padayachee and Reddy companies to be vendor development partners for the project.
Padayachee and Reddy told Bester that they were sent by number one, former president Jacob Zuma, for a contract to expand rail capacity between the Northern Cape and Eastern Cape from 5 million tons to 16 million tons.
READ: ‘Number One’ Involved In Zondo Commissioning On Transnet Contract, But Who Is It?
“Mr. Basson said at the time that Mr. Anoj Singh indicated that he wanted a specific company included as our supply development company and mentioned the names of these two gentlemen and later that day Mr. Basson came back and said: damn thing ‘. ”
When asked what he meant by “sign the damn thing,” Bester said the memorandum of understanding.
Bester said the two sent him a memorandum of understanding to sign that made him uncomfortable and sent it to Transnet and Transnet would not award the contract until the memorandum of understanding was signed.
“So, they understand that that was the only thing that held back the granting of confinement by Transnet to Hatch,” the commission asked.
Bester replied: “In my own words, I understood that we were being held for ransom. Transnet will not approve the lockdown unless we agree to the revised MOU. ”
Hatch eventually signed the MOU with Reddy’s company for phase one.
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