Johannesburg - Gautrain's operators have strongly denied
bribery claims made in a newspaper during the week, the Citizen reported on
Saturday.
The Bombela consortium denied any knowledge of a Mail &
Guardian report on Friday that a R250m commission was paid to a consultant
employed by a Canadian company in partnership with Bombela.
Bombela was awarded the R26bn tender in 2005 to build and
operate the Gauteng rapid-rail system, including Gautrain.
Gautrain management agency CEO Jack van der Merwe dismissed
the allegations.
“We are very serious about fighting corruption.
Unfortunately, there is nothing of substance in the report that warrants an investigation,”
he said.
He had earlier said a decision would be made moving forward
based on additional information, according to the newspaper.
Bombela spokesperson Kelebogile Machaka declined to comment
further and referred queries to the Canadian company instead.
The Democratic Alliance called for the matter to be probed and Van der Merwe to be brought before the Gauteng legislature's transport committee.