By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Siyabonga Gama in the dock of the specialised commercial crimes court sitting at the Palm Ridge magistrate’s court. He faces charges of contravening the Public Finance Management Act, corruption and money laundering. Photo Credit
Five former senior Transnet executives arrested on Friday on charges of corruption have been granted bail totalling R425 000 by the Palm Ridge Specialised Crimes Court.
The accused are former group CEO of Transnet Siyabonga Gama, former acting group chief financial officer Garry Pita, ex-group treasurer Phetolo Ramosebudi, Regiments’ Eric Wood and Trillian Asset Management director Daniel Roy.
They made a brief appearance at the Palm Ridge Magistrate.
Regional Magistrate Brian Nemavhidi granted Gama, Pita and Roy bail of R50 000 each while Wood and Ramosebudi were granted bail of R250 000 and R25 000, respectively.
Nemavhidi imposed several conditions on their bail applications. These included not interfering with witnesses involved in the investigation, reporting to the nearest police station and handing over their travel documents.
State prosecutor advocate Thembela Bakamela did not oppose bail.
The sixth accused in the case, Gupta fixer and businessman Kuben Moodley, was arrested in September 2021 and appeared in court in February this year.
They face charges of contravention of the Public Finance Management Act, fraud, corruption and money laundering.
The suspects were arrested on Friday morning in connection to corruption amounting to R93 million following investigations by the Hawks.
The accused are expected back in court on 13 June.
Speaking to the media shortly after the bail hearing adjourned, the spokesperson for the ID, Sindisiwe Seboka, said more arrests were pending in the case.
“At the heart of this particular prosecution is the ID basically saying that we are trying to recoup as much [of the looted state monies] and bring to book many of the people who took part in the alleged looting of R93.4 million of Transnet money for work that had already been done by a different service provider,” Seboka said.
Consulting companies McKinsey & Co., Regiments Capital and Trillian Capital Partners were also found to have received irregular fees for work they did at the company.
McKinsey last year said it would repay R870 million that it earned in contracts at Transnet, where it was working with Regiments. While the company has said there were “errors of judgment,” it said none of its employees were implicated in wrongdoing.
The arrests may ease the pressure on the National Prosecuting Authority’s director, Shamila Batohi, and President Cyril Ramaphosa, both of whom have faced withering public criticism for the perceived lack of action against state-linked business people and politicians who’ve been implicated in graft.