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A 41% escalation in the estimated total cost for 1 064 locomotives meant to upgrade Transnet's ageing fleet was not justifiable, the judicial commission of inquiry into state capture has heard from an actuary.
The inquiry has been investigating allegations of state capture, corruption and fraud at state entities since August 2018.
It again turned its attention to the controversial locomotive contacts on Wednesday, after earlier in the week hearing from former intelligence head Mo Shaik. The inquiry last heard Transnet-related testimony in mid-July, when former Transnet strategy manager, Francis Callard, gave evidence.
On Wednesday, Alister Chabi, an actuary and founder of the All5 Holding Company, gave evidence about the financial models that underpinned the increase in the estimated total cost for the 1064 locomotives from R38.6bn to R54.5bn.
During his previous testimony in late May, Chabi said his company had been approached by MNS Attorneys in 2018 for assistance with their probe. That year MNS was asked to probe allegations of fraud and irregularities by Transnet's former board, eventually producing six reports.
Chabi told the commission on Wednesday that while the original estimated cost of R38.6bn for the locomotives was justifiable, the increase of R15.9bn that stretched this to R54.5 was not.
"[The] 41% was too large an increase," he said.
He said that, according to his calculations, a justifiable increase would have been 11%, which could have resulted in an total estimated cost of R42.7bn.
The inquiry continues.
