Gupta kickbacks: DA to lay criminal charges against SAP and CAD House
17 July 2017
The DA will lay charges of money laundering and corruption against the South African component of global software giant, SAP, and Gupta-affiliated company CAD House, following allegations of R100 million in kickbacks changed hands between the two companies.
In a sales commission agreement, SAP appointed CAD House on a consultancy basis and agreed to pay them 10% in sales commission, if the company helped them secure a Transnet contract.
This consultancy is rather irregular considering that SAP is an international software giant which had existing contracts with Transnet. Furthermore, CAD House is a small company which specialises in selling 3D printers and which allegedly had no previous relationships with SAP or expertise in this field.
The DA has reason to believe that SAP South Africa procured the services of CAD House purely because they wanted access to its owners, Duduzane Zuma and the Guptas’, connections within Transnet with a view to securing a lucrative contract.
The DA will, therefore, proceed to lay charges of corruption and money laundering against:
- SAP South Africa - directors and employees;
- CAD House - members and employees; and
- any other person who had material interests in this dodgy deal.
The DA notes that SAP has launched an internal investigation into this matter and has subsequently suspended a number of its key executives in South Africa.
It is simply not enough that the implicated SAP South Africa executives are scapegoated, these dealings must have gone higher up in SAP and all those involved should be held accountable.
This is not the first time SAP has been caught with its hands in the cookie jar. The firm has previously been found guilty of bribery in numerous countries and the revelations that SAP South Africa had ignored a number of red flags about CAD House is even further cause for concern.
As the extent of the Guptas capture and corruption continues to be exposed, one man seems to be the spider at the centre of the web with regards to dodgy dealing at state-owned entities and that is former Public Enterprises Minister, Malusi Gigaba.
The SAP deal is the seventh dodgy deal that happened under Gigaba’s watch as Public Enterprises Minister and it is highly unlikely that this is coincidental, where there is smoke there is fire.
The DA will continue to fight against any and all entities that make dodgy deals with the corrupt Gutas and Zumas.
Issued by Natasha Mazzone, DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises, 17 July 2017
