This after President Cyril Ramaphosa signed proclamations 181, 182, 183 and 184 of 2024, authorising the SIU to investigate allegations of serious maladministration within Transnet, the Gauteng Provincial Department of Human Settlement, the Umzumbe Local Municipality, and Masilonyana Local Municipality and to recover any financial losses suffered by the State.

Proclamation 184 of 2024

Proclamation 184 of 2024 authorises the SIU to investigate allegations of serious maladministration related to Siyabonga Gama’s reinstatement as Chief Executive Officer of Transnet Freight Rail in February 2011 and the payment of Gama’s legal costs following his reinstatement.

This includes any unauthorised, irregular, or wasteful expenditure incurred by Transnet concerning these matters.

“SIU is also authorised to probe allegations of serious maladministration in the procurement of or contracting for goods, works, or services of leased accommodation by Transnet and payments made about it in a manner that examines explicitly whether Transnet officials or agents acted corruptly or unduly to benefit themselves or others, leading to unauthorised, irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditures or financial losses for Transnet,” SIU spokesperson, Kaizer Kganyago said.

Kganyago said the SIU will also investigate any unauthorised, irregular, or fruitless and wasteful expenditures incurred by or losses suffered by Transnet or the state about the contract for security services related to cable theft and preventing criminal activities against Transnet Freight Rail.

The contract was awarded to Abalozi Security Risk Advisory Services (Pty) Limited (formerly known as General Nyanda Security Advisory Services (Pty) Limited).

“The Proclamation covers allegations of unlawful and improper conduct that occurred between 1 January 2007 and 13 September 2024, as well as any related activities before 1 January 2007 and after the date of the Proclamation that are pertinent to the matters under investigation or involve the same persons, entities, or contracts,” Kganyago said.

Proclamation 183 of 2024

Proclamation 183 of 2024 authorises the SIU to investigate allegations of maladministration in procuring seven contracts at the Umzumbe Local Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal Province.

The tenders under scrutiny include the construction of the Umzumbe municipal offices; rehabilitation of the Qwabe, Cabhane, Mabheleni, Magabha, Sgananda and Ndletshe Roads; construction of the Isipofu Access Road; construction work at the Ntelezi Msani Heritage Centre; construction of the Nkanini Indoor Sports Centre; construction of the  Ntatshana Access Road and bridge; and the three-year Electrification Turnkey Project (2015 to 2018), by or on behalf of the municipality.

“The SIU will investigate any unauthorised, irregular, fruitless, or wasteful expenditure incurred by the municipality or the State. The investigation will also cover any unlawful or improper conduct by municipality officials, employees, suppliers, service providers, or any other involved parties.

“Additionally, the probe will examine the performance, poor performance, defective performance, or late performance by the service providers appointed by the municipality regarding the services delivered, performed, or rendered as part of the projects,” Kganyago explained.

The Proclamation covers allegations of unlawful and improper conduct that occurred between 1 January 2013 and 13 September 2024, as well as any related activities before 1 January 2013 and after the date of the Proclamation that are pertinent to the matters under investigation or involve the same persons, entities, or contracts.

Proclamation 182 of 2024

Proclamation 182 of 2024 directs the SIU to investigate allegations of maladministration with two tenders at the Masilonyana Local Municipality.

The investigation will examine whether municipal officials, including service providers, or any other involved parties unduly benefit themselves or others, leading to unauthorised, irregular, or fruitless and wasteful expenditure or financial losses for the municipality.

Kganyago said the contracts under scrutiny include the refurbishment of Brandfort Water Treatment Works and Raw Water Pump Stations; and upgrading of Brandfort Sport Centre Phase II.

“The Proclamation covers allegations of unlawful and improper conduct that occurred between 1 May 2020 and 13 September 2024, as well as any related activities before 1 May 2020 and after the date of the Proclamation that are pertinent to the matters under investigation or involve the same persons, entities, or contracts,” Kganyago said.

Proclamation 181 of 2024

Proclamation 181 of 2024 mandates the SIU to investigate allegations of maladministration of two tenders in the Gauteng Provincial Department of Human Settlement.

The SIU will investigate contracts including the procurement of, or contracting for,  goods, works and services for the construction of 150 ablution and sanitation infrastructure and facilities at Sicelo Shiceka informal settlement: Phase 1 and Evaton, and the procurement of, or contracting for goods, works and services about the construction of 180 walk units at Sicelo Shiceka extension five.

The probe will also examine whether the payments for these contracts adhered to National Treasury guidelines and ascertain whether the payments were irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditures or financial losses for the municipality or the State.

Kganyago said the Proclamation covers allegations of unlawful and improper conduct that occurred between 1 April 2017 and 13 September 2024, as well as any related activities before 1 April 2017 and after the date of the Proclamation that is pertinent to the matters under investigation or involves the same persons, entities, or contracts.

“Beyond investigating maladministration, corruption, and fraud, the SIU will identify systemic failures and recommend measures to prevent future losses. In line with the Special Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act 74 of 1996 (SIU Act), the SIU will refer any evidence of criminal conduct uncovered during its investigation to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for further action.

“The SIU is also authorised under the SIU Act to initiate a civil action in the High Court or a Special Tribunal in its name to address any wrongdoing identified during its investigation resulting from acts of corruption, fraud, or maladministration,” Kganyago explained.

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Transnet has now provided a rare insight into how it and its major customers structure and conduct operations covertly for the survival and functioning of a key South African rail communication route, which has been besieged by syndicates plundering and blocking export and import routes.

Fidelity is deployed on the economically vital Transnet North-East Corridor, one of South Africa’s key export routes, and on the coal line to the port of Richards Bay in KwaZulu Natal, Transnet confirmed on enquiry to ProtectionWeb.

It has emerged that a previously top-secret network of Transnet customers has formed a collaborative security network with the utility and have contracted Fidelity to protect the Richards Bay Coal terminal. Fidelity is also protecting the railway line in a parallel operation until at least October 2024.

The Fidelity operation has been ongoing for over a year and will continue to do so until such time a lawful reason emerged to set aside the tender, Transnet said.

Fidelity Group chairperson Wahl Bartmann has pledged Fidelity’s full support for the Transnet probe, initiated recently after a complaint by the African Security Congress (ASC), a political party established as a self-appointed pressure group for security guards and security companies.

Bartmann said in a media statement that Fidelity had succeeded in reducing crime by 75% on the strategic North-East Corridor for Transnet Freight Services.

Transnet also confirmed that none of the other security companies working on the tender are being probed alongside Fidelity. The ASC allegations were met with widespread scepticism and even outright suspicion by many in the private security industry, and even sparked calls for ASC commercial connections and financing to be investigated in turn.

“It seems abundantly clear that ASC is itself trying to influence the appointment of service providers or possibly even trying to stop crucial security operations at Transnet by Fidelity and which are absolutely in the public and national interest,” one highly placed source told ProtectionWeb.

ASC could not be reached for comment and telephone calls were not answered.

Despite initiating the internal probe, Transnet has protested its innocence of any impropriety in awarding the contract. According to the entity, the contract has been operational with Fidelity and others since as far back as July 2023.

Asked by ProtectionWeb whether operations by Fidelity ceased whilst the present tender investigation was in progress, Transnet refuted the possibility.

“No, the purpose of Transnet investigations is to establish whether a transaction involved evidence of irregularity. Until such is determined there is no lawful reason to suspend or review a contract for set-aside,” Transnet said in a statement in response to a ProtectionWeb enquiry.

Transnet went on to state it “has not undertaken any investigations of this nature (parallel to the Fidelity probe) on its security service providers” when asked if other security companies it deploys were also being investigated.

Further details on the operational structuring of the Fidelity tender, awarded after an open competitive tender process, and other collaborative operations with Transnet customers were provided on request by Transnet.

Transnet appointed Fidelity as the Outcome Based Security (OBS) on the North-East Corridor in July 2023. The Richards Bay Coal Terminal and Coal Line contracted Fidelity, and through a Mutual Collaboration Agreement with Transnet customers, appointed the security group on a cost-sharing basis from 1 April to 31 July 2024. The contract was extended for three months to October 2024.

Richard Bay Coal Terminal’s security service provider is Linear Management Systems (LMS) which is managing Fidelity to protect the coal line. Transnet does not hold a contract with LMS, Transnet said.

Earlier, Transnet said it was regrettable that the “peddled narrative” in media reports held that it had cancelled a previous tender for the manufacture of a Contact Wire Reflector (CWR) device to free resources to appoint Fidelity.

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On Monday last week (19 August 2024), at the Nxuba Magistrate’s Court (formerly Cradock) in the Eastern Cape the four were found guilty and sentenced to a collective 50 years in prison.

Charlie van Dyk, 43, Elandre Senekal, 29, Michelle van Straaten, 23, and Kwakhanya Bolowana, 28, were convicted on charges of housebreaking, damaging essential infrastructure and theft.

This relates to an incident which took place at the Scalen Rail Station on Mortimer Road in Nxuba in March 2023, in which four batteries, transformers, and cables, valued at R57 000 were stolen.

The four individuals received five years for housebreaking and 15 years for damage to essential infrastructure, and 15 years for theft. Senekal and Van Straaten were jailed for an effective 20 years, while van Dyk and Bolowana will serve 30 years.

TFR Acting General Manager Security and Forensic, Shawn Johnson, said that security-related incidents on TFR’s rail network continues to have a crippling impact on its operations, leading to train delays, cancellations, and tonnage losses.

“Criminal syndicates attack the rail network, targeting essential rail infrastructure by damaging, tempering, vandalising, and disrupting rail operations,” Johnson said.

“In July this year, we had 481 criminal-related incidents on our rail network, including cable theft and vandalism.”

Johnson added that the TFR security department continues to collaborate with law enforcement agencies, customers, and other state-owned companies to address the ongoing criminal attacks on the rail networks.

Written by Africa Ports & Ships and republished with permission. The original article can be found here.

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