On Thursday, July 25 #UniteBehind hand-delivered a letter to the German Consulate and the German Chamber of Commerce. We demand the investigation and prosecution of German and European based companies and their executives that have been implicated in State Capture and corruption at PRASA.
One such company is Vossloh, based in Germany, who sold us the trains that were too tall to fit our tracks through their subsidiary Vossloh Espana.
Swifambo (a front company formed by Vossloh) fraudulently won a tender to supply PRASA with locomotives. The locomotives delivered were unsuited (too tall) for South African railways and unsafe. Vossloh paid bribes to Mr. Makhensa Mabunda (a former colleague of ex CEO of PRASA Lucky Montana) worth R75m as a commission for the deal, and R80m to Maria Gomes, an associate of President Zuma. The tender was worth R3.5bn, which should have been better utilised to fix a rail commuter service that is in crisis.
Swifambo was awarded the tender as a result of the tender specifications being tailored to ensure that they were in line with the specifications of Vossloh locomotives. Without Swifambo as a front, Vossloh would not be allowed to bid for the tender. Swifambo itself wasn’t eligible to bid as it lacked the proper SARS clearance.
We look forward to a response from the German government. The fight against corruption and state capture is now international.