Johannesburg – A senior manager on Tuesday told the commission of inquiry into state capture that former Denel Land Systems chief executive Stephan Burger negotiated a multimillion-rand deal with Gupta-owned VR Laser.
Celia Malahlela, who was a supply chain management executive at Denel Land Systems when the deal was discussed, said Burger was negotiating with VR Laser outside the company’s normal procurement processes.
Malahlela described the move as out of the ordinary.
”We don’t know what he discussed with VR Laser,” she said.
Malahlela recalled Burger, who retired in 2018, stating that he was prepared to defend VR Laser.
”I will discuss with them to reduce their price. I will discuss this outside the normal channels,” she remembered Burger stating.
Malahlela agreed with commission chairperson Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo that it appeared as though Burger was very supportive of VR Laser being appointed to supply over 200 Badger armoured vehicles for the SA National Defence Force for over R262 million.
She was opposed to the deal and the fact that Denel was not appointing VR Laser through proper procurement procedures.
Malahlela testified that the order was later reduced to 183 for an overall price R192.15m to be inline with Denel’s delegation of authority framework.
According to Malahlela, this was done in order to ensure that approval of the deal was done at group executive level and not make it a board submission.
Contracts over R200m require board approval, she said.
Malahlela continues giving evidence at the commission.
Political Bureau