Transnet Tracing Lost Funds After ‘Horror Movie,’ Chairman Says

(Bloomberg) -- South African ports and rail operator Transnet SOC Ltd. is working to recover funds lost through corruption that left the company looking like a “horror movie,” Chairman Popo Molefe said.

A forensic probe into Transnet and the state power utility last year found some executives and board members failed to act in the companies’ best interests and recommended criminal investigations. The inquiry examined the extent of so-called state capture, where private individuals used influence over government officials to win contracts from state companies.

A new board appointed in May is overhauling the organization, Molefe told reporters Thursday in Johannesburg.

“What we found in the organization was nothing short of a horror movie,” Molefe said. “State capture turned Transnet into a piggy bank for some.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Burkhardt in Johannesburg at pburkhardt@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Herron at jherron9@bloomberg.net, Paul Richardson, Gordon Bell

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