
Johannesburg - The Zondo commission heard evidence of Transnet irregular handling of a contract to acquire locomotives which saw the prices balloon from R38 billion to R54 billion.
An expert witness Allister Chabi, an actuarial scientist, who was tasked with breaking down the numbers for Transnet locomotive purchase deal.
He told the commission that when he along with MNS Attorneys analysed the numbers of purchasing 1064 locomotives it was clear that the initial cost of R38 billion was justifiable and that an increase in the estimated total cost of the deal could have been increased but not to R15 billion that was added.
He said overall an 11% increase could have been justifiable, but not the 41% that Transnet’s board approved.
In the first part of the Transnet leg of the state capture investigation, MNS officials had laid out how former Transnet CEO Brian Molefe had irregularly approved the increase of the cost of the locomotive tender to acquire 1064 locomotives.