Johannesburg - Thirteen months after the issuance of the warrant of arrest for the former Transnet Group executive Brian Molefe, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has failed to present a formal charge sheet.
Initially, a warrant of arrest for Molefe was issued on December 13, 2021, however, Molefe and his co-accused were only arrested on August 29, 2022, and appeared at the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in the R398.4 million Transnet fraud and corruption case where they were released on a bail of R50 000 each at their first court appearance in August.
Speaking to the Falcons, the former Eskom Group Executive and former Public Investment Corporation’s attorney Mpho Molefe raised concern about the delaying tactics in bringing forward a signed charge sheet by the NPA, adding that the issuing of warrants of arrest without completion of investigations appeared to be political.
“The Magistrate said there should be a charge sheet by October 14, 2021, however, the NPA asked for a postponement to November 30, and still there was no charge sheet, all they did was ask for another postponement to April 30, 2023. The question is why was the warrant of arrest issued in the first place when it was clear that their investigation is still in progress,” said Molefe.
Molefe’s attorney said he suspected that somebody or some people were interfering with the NPA and giving instructions for some reason unknown to them.
“It appears they were waiting for some events to happen in order to create a negative impression around our client while legitimising their plans to collapse some of the entities my client has headed.
“We now have a draft charge sheet that has not yet been signed by the NPA, so there are no formal charges to be precise. It is surprising that they allege wrongdoing which they say took place a decade ago but no official charge sheet has been brought forward,” Molefe said.
Furthermore, Molefe mentioned that the NPA’s actions were a violation of his client’s rights because his right to freedom of movement was violated and that Molefe was now prevented from participating in various activities including serving articles for his law degree.
Sindisiwe Seboka, the spokesperson for the Investigating Directorate of the NPA, told the Falcons that the NPA would not comment on the matter.
“The NPA does not comment on its investigation and prosecution strategies, including the witnesses in the case,” she said.
The Falcons sought to establish why it had taken almost a year before Molefe was arrested on draft charges of the alleged corruption said to be committed 10 years ago and why would the rushed arrests be made without a thorough investigation.
In the draft document, the state alleged that Molefe, former chief executive Siyabonga Gama, former group chief financial officer Anoj Singh, former group chief financial officer Garry Pita, and former group treasurer Phetolo Ramosebudi along with representatives of private companies Mckinsey and Companies SA, Regiments Capital and Trillian Asset Management, violated the contravention of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), fraud, corruption and money laundering in connection with Transnet’s procurement of 1 064 locomotives in 2015 worth more than R54 billion.
According to the Investigative Directorate, in May 2015, Transnet appointed JP Morgan for its advisory services. From July to October 2015, the same officials in Transnet had started facilitating the termination of the JP Morgan contract.
The cancellation was a result of the officials making the decision to appoint Trillian in October 2015.
An invoice of R93.4m was then submitted by Trillian, through Daniel Roy who served as a director of Trillian. The invoice was approved by Pita and Gama, and payment was made on December 3, 2015, to Trillian’s account.
Three days after payment was received, R74m was paid to Albatime, owned by Moodley, without any reason.
Before the payment of R74m, a payment was made by Transnet to Regimens for R189m in June 2015, allegedly for the same services.
After the NPA had asked for another postponement for further investigation and disclosures, the matter is set to return to court on April 30, 2022.
During his appearance at the State Capture Commission headed by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, Molefe made shocking revelations about President Cyril Ramaphosa’s business involvement with Eskom, Glencore, and Optimum Coal Mine (OCM), and accused him of collapsing Eskom.
He said Ramaphosa was sold a percentage of shares by Glencore so that he would use his political influence to negotiate profitable deals on behalf of the company at Eskom.
”They knew the profitability of the company could only come from the successful renegotiation of the price. Ramaphosa was their bet,” said Molefe.
According to Molefe, Glencore demanded that Eskom increase the price of coal per ton from R150 to R530, which would mean a transfer of R6 billion from Eskom to the company over three years.
He said Eskom would have paid an amount of R8bn, including the writing off of R2bn in penalties that Glencore wanted from the power utility for its (Glencore’s) failure to conduct a due diligence exercise before buying OCM.
”It was going to financially ruin Eskom,” said Molefe, adding that this would have led to the poor and most vulnerable subsidising the dealings of the rich.
Ramaphosa was chair of the OCM just before he was appointed as deputy president of the country by former president Jacob Zuma.
Ramaphosa also led a War room which the Eskom management reported to.
Falcons