Activists ask NPA, the Hawks and SIU to investigate the decade-old Swifambo contract as an organised criminal enterprise
#UniteBehind activist Zackie Achmat (right) meets advocate Tommy Bunguzana, deputy-director of public prosecutions at the National Prosecuting Authority, outside its offices in Cape Town. Photo: Liezl Human
- Commuter activist group #UniteBehind has submitted an affidavit and forensic report to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) calling for investigations into the corrupt R3.5-billion Swifambo locomotive contract.
- Only 13 of the 70 locomotives were delivered, and they were too tall for South Africa’s rail network. About R2.65-billion was paid to Swifambo before the contract was halted.
- #UniteBehind has given the NPA a month to report on action taken and is calling on Parliament to investigate why there have been no prosecutions in the Swifambo case after more than a decade.
On Tuesday, commuter activist group #UniteBehind hand delivered an affidavit to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) offices in Cape Town. They want the NPA to investigate, subpoena and prosecute parties involved in billions of rands of corrupt procurement at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) over a decade ago.
The affidavit was also addressed to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU). It was accompanied by a forensic report detailing bank records that “identify patterns and flag transactions for scrutiny”.
It also suggests subpoena actions that the NPA should take.
In the affidavit, #UniteBehind director Zackie Achmat calls on the NPA to investigate the conduct as “an organised criminal enterprise” instead of “a series of unrelated procurement irregularities”.
The affidavit details the corrupt tender awarded in 2013 by PRASA to Swifambo for a R3.5-billion locomotive contract. Only 13 locomotives of 70 were delivered and they were too tall for the train network. About R2.65-billion was paid to Swifambo before the contract was halted.
In 2017, the Gauteng High Court found the Swifambo tender process to be corrupt and fraudulent. The court said, “Corruption is a cancer that is slowly eating at the fabric of our society.” It also cited the Constitutional Court’s warning that corruption “if allowed to go unchecked and unpunished will pose a serious threat to our democratic state”.
In November 2018, the Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed Swifambo’s appeal and upheld the high court judgment.
On Tuesday, advocate Tommy Bunguzana, deputy-director of Public Prosecutions at the NPA, received the group’s documents. He said the NPA would respond.
In the affidavit, Achmat said, “The money that was stolen was money for infrastructure, rolling stock, signalling and security. Its theft produced the collapse of lines and services”.
At its peak in 2008/09, PRASA recorded 54-million passenger trips per month. Numbers plummeted to an average of 1.7-million rail passenger trips per month between January 2021 and June 2022.
The affidavit notes the Central Line in Cape Town, which serves the poorest communities in the city, was closed for years.
“Commuters were exposed to violent crime on trains, at stations and on the walks forced on them when trains did not run, and the infrastructure that was left unguarded was stripped. The recovery that has begun is slow, partial and unevenly spread, and it is being paid for a second time out of the public purse,” states the affidavit.
The affidavit notes it has been 11 years since then-Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s Derailed Report exposed corruption and maladministration under former CEO Lucky Montana.
The affidavit calls on the NPA to respond within 30 days and to detail what it has done.
On 18 August this year, Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) heard that there had been no prosecutions in either the Swifambo or the Siyangena matter, another corrupt contract during Montana’s tenure over a decade ago.
#UniteBehind is calling on SCOPA to hold hearings on Swifambo and investigate the conduct of the Hawks, SIU and NPA, and why prosecution has been delayed for over a decade.
NPA spokesperson in the Western Cape Eric Ntabazalila said the document would be forwarded to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in Pretoria, which would communicate directly with #UniteBehind.
PRASA spokesperson Andiswa Makanda responded to GroundUp: “We are not aware of criminal proceedings [related to Swifambo]. PRASA continues to support investigations and supports investigations as and when requested through a Request for Information. We are in no position to comment further on this matter.”
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