Sekunjalo, Saab SA and Agriculture: What is the connection?

I will today be submitting parliamentary questions to ascertain what the relationship is between Saab SA, Sekunjalo Consortium and the Ministry of Agriculture. I will also be asking the Minister to explain the relationship to the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture. The story appears to be stranger than fiction. 

On Christmas Eve of 2009, Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson met with Saab during her trip to Sweden. This meeting was only disclosed as a result of persistent Democratic Alliance (DA) questioning, and the Minister has yet to explain the reason for this meeting.

In June 2010, Sekunjalo Consortium CEO, Khalid Abdulla, announced that Sekunjalo would become a shareholder in Saab South Africa. The company acquired an upfront equity interest in Saab SA, entitling Sekunjalo to 25% voting rights and a 5% economic entitlement. Sekunjalo would be entitled to increase its economic interest to a maximum of 25%, based on the performance of Saab over a five-year period. Saab CEO and president, Ake Svensson, said at the time that the transaction confirmed Saab's confidence that ‘with Sekunjalo as a strategic partner, Saab will further strengthen its position in the South African market'. 

Svensson also interestingly noted that ‘Saab has grown the South African business [over the last decade] to serve an impressive list of clients specifically within government and the public sector, both of which are expected to grow further with this partnership'. 

In November 2011, Sekunjalo Consortium won a bid for an R800 million contract through the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The tender was to man and maintain state-owned patrol vessels to ensure the safety of our marine coastline. The tender has since been withdrawn, but the DA has nonetheless called for an investigation into the processes followed. Of particular and overt concern was a conflict of interest, bias on behalf of the bid adjudication committee and lack of evidence that the company could actually do the job.

The DA would therefore like to answers to the following questions:

Exactly who from Saab did the Minister meet with during her trip to Sweden in 2009?

Who accompanied her to the meeting?

Would Saab SA have stood to gain anything from the Sekunjalo tender, had it gone ahead? For instance, would they have been paid to supply some of the equipment necessary to fulfil the terms of reference for the tender?

Answers to these questions are critical to aiding the Public Protector's investigation into the processes surrounding the Sekunjalo tender.

Statement issued by Pieter van Dalen MP, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries, March 15 2012

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