‘It wasn’t me’: Ex-transport minister denies influencing tenders at Prasa

Former transport minister Dipuo Peters has told the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture that she was never involved in wrongdoings at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa during her tenure as minister between 2013 and 2017.

Peters was giving testimony on Monday before the commission regarding matters relating to allegations of corruption at the agency.

She had previously claimed that she was unaware of how prevalent corruption and wrongdoing had been at the agency.

She says however she does confirm that such developments were indeed a concern to her as the responsible Minister. #StateCaptureInquiry

— State Capture Commission (@StateCaptureCom) February 22, 2021

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Peters says she never involved herself in the awarding of tenders or allowed herself to influence – directly or indirectly – any decisions that were aimed at benefiting certain individuals or entities.

She added that she had never shielded anyone accused of wrongdoing from the rule of law or any other disciplinary processes.

Much of her testimony initially was around the meeting of 20 August 2015, which – according to former board chair Popo Molefe’s affidavit – former president Jacob Zuma was part of.

According to Molefe’s statement, Zuma personally interfered in the operations of Prasa, when the issues at hand clearly fell within the purview of the agency’s board.

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The commission heard that Zuma was pushing for then CEO Lucky Montana’s stay at the agency, even though Montana had tendered his resignation.

This was despite allegations of corruption levelled against Montana.

Peters said that the board had accepted Montana’s resignation letter and she was in full support of the board despite the allegations that Zuma was pushing for Montana’s stay.