Gama does not recall signing memorandum to increase price of locomotives contracts

Former Transnet CEO Siyabonga Gama has told the State Capture Commission in Johannesburg that he does not remember signing a memorandum which requested the Transnet board to approve an increase in the price of the 1 064 locomotives contract from R38 billion to R49 billion.

Other Transnet officials who have appeared before the commission said the price increase was unjustifiable as the contract already included Forex hedging and any escalation of costs, which were stated as the reason for the increase.

Gama says the authors of the memorandum may have been referring to a possible increase in borrowing costs as foreign exchange assumptions were already included in the original business case.

State Capture Inquiry | The Commission hears TRANSNET-related evidence: Siyabonga Gama