Former minister of public enterprises Malusi Gigaba has been added as the fifth accused in the corruption case involving former Transnet executives, in which the transport utility lost billions due to irregular tenders to acquire trains.
Gigaba appeared before the Johannesburg specialised commercial crimes court in Palm Ridge on Tuesday.
The matter was postponed to January 30 2026, for disclosure of the docket, the provision of an indictment and a date for the transfer of the case to the high court.
The Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) spokesperson Henry Mamothame said on November 7 the IDAC issued Gigaba with a summons to appear in court.
Gigaba is charged alongside Anoj Singh, the former Group Chief Financial Officer; Brian Molefe, the former Group Chief Executive Officer of Transnet; Siyabonga Gama, the former Chief Executive Officer; and Thamsanqa Jiyane, who was the Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) in the Transport Freight Rail division within Transnet.
Mamothame said Gigaba’s court appearance relates to the period between November 2010 and May 2014, when alleged offences were committed during his tenure as minister of public enterprises.
This was the period when Transnet began the process of acquiring locomotives to expand and modernise the country’s rail infrastructure.
“During that time, the tender processes were allegedly flouted, and three contracts were irregularly awarded to provide Transnet with 95, 100 and 1064 locomotives in three different contracts, resulting in a loss of billions of rands for Transnet,” he said.
“The state alleges that, during the period that Dr Gigaba was the minister of DPE, he on various occasions allegedly accepted and received undisclosed amounts of cash from members of the Gupta family, which are corrupt in nature and which he was not entitled to. All the accused were presented with an updated charge sheet.”
Sowetan
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