In installment 00024 of Unaccountable we focused on middleman Auswell Mashaba and his shelf company Swifambo Rail Leasing, which was used as a front by Vossloh España to secure a lucrative contract with Prasa that resulted in the SOE spending billions on trains that were too tall for SA railways. This week we turn to the German railway giant Vossloh, and its Spanish subsidiary, Vossloh España, which fraudulently secured the R3.5bn contract through a process riddled with serious procurement irregularities, fronting and suspicious payments.
The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) and Swifambo’s liquidators have all but abandoned any attempt to get the R1.87-billion lost to Europe from the tall-trains contract, according to a recent Sunday Times article. The report revealed that Prasa and the liquidators of Swifambo are seeking a commercial settlement agreement with Stadler Rail for the locomotives that were never delivered. Stadler Rail is the Swiss railway company that took over Vossloh España in late 2015.
A settlement takes us no closer to accountability for Vossloh, like so many of the corporations implicated in State Capture. The failure to pursue full accountability will only maintain the environment of corporate impunity which allowed State Capture to flourish.
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