DA welcomes judgment in Prasa’s dodgy ‘tall trains’ deal
The DA has welcomed the Johannesburg High Court judgment setting aside the controversial Swifambo Rail Leasing contract.DA spokesman on transport Manny de Freitas said that Swifambo‚ which had no previous experience in the rail industry when it won the tender in March 2013‚ was contracted to supply 70 new locomotives to Prasa at a cost of R3.5bn. The company received an initial payment of R460m and supplied 13 locomotives but they were too tall and thus unsuitable for South Africa’s railways."It was also alleged that the ANC were beneficiaries of an R80m bribe aimed at securing the deal for Swifambo‚ with payments made to Zuma-aligned Maria de Cruz Gomes for business unrelated to Prasa’s operations. The DA has already previously laid charges in this regard in 2016‚" De Freitas said.The judgment stated that "harm will be done to the administration of justice" and "corruption will triumph" if the court did not set aside the tender."This is an indictment on Prasa and exposes how flawed...
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