FORMER Minister Dr Malusi Gigaba and four ex-Transnet executives appear before the Gauteng High Court in Joburg on Friday, 8 May.
Gigaba appeared alongside Anoj Singh, Transnet's former group CFO, Brian Molefe, the former group CEO, Siyabonga Gama, the former CEO and Thamsanqa Jiyane, who served as chief procurement officer during the controversial tender processes.
They face corruption charges linked to the irregular awarding of multi-billion Rand locomotive contracts.
The case was postponed to 10 July to allow consultations between representatives of the accused, who are expected to finalise comparison of the docket disclosed by the NPA's Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC).
The court has ordered this process to be completed before 30 July.
"The state and the legal representatives of the accused further agreed that a formal timeline will be submitted to court by 15 May for pretrial issues that includes applications for further particulars, can be agreed on, and for trial dates to be determined," said IDAC spokesman, Henry Mamothame.
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The indictments served on the accused relate to the period when Transnet embarked on acquiring locomotives to expand and modernise South Africa's rail infrastructure, a process that would become synonymous with state capture-era corruption.
According to the charges, tender processes were flouted as three contracts were irregularly awarded to provide Transnet with 95 100 and 1 064 locomotives respectively. The irregular awarding of these contracts resulted in losses running into billions of Rands for the state-owned freight rail company.
The locomotive deals have been identified as among the most egregious examples of state capture, with evidence suggesting systematic manipulation of procurement processes to favour politically connected suppliers while inflating costs dramatically.
The case represents one of the most significant corruption prosecutions to emerge from the state capture era, with all five accused facing serious charges related to their roles in the tender irregularities.
Substantive pre-trial proceedings are expected to commence once timelines are finalised in mid-May.
