JOHANNESBURG - Two of the companies responsible for the Gauteng project were hijacked earlier this year. In July the legitimate directors of Bombardier Transportation UK Limited and Isithemala Rail Services were ‘resigned' on the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (CIPRO) system and replaced by one ‘Setlabocha William Koto'. The legitimate directors were subsequently reinstated.
Bombardier Transportation is the lead company in the Bombela Consortium which received the contract to construct and manage the Gautrain system. Isithemala is the company responsible for laying the tracks of the rail system.
Bombardier and Isithemala join a long list of confirmed victims of a syndicate (or syndicates) which has been hijacking companies for the purposes of stealing tax refunds from the South African Revenue Service (SARS).
It also appears that the controls introduced by CIPRO on August 10 this year have proven ineffective. A Politicsweb investigation has uncovered a number of cases of company hijacking which postdate their implementation.
Politicsweb can confirm that four other companies - MJS Trading, South African Valve and Tube Industry, Natmed and OEP Office Equipment Products - also fell victim to company hijacking this year.
This brings the total of confirmed cases to seventeen (see table below).