Question NW2381 to the Minister of Public Enterprises
22 November 2016 - NW2381
Mulder, Dr CP to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises
(1) Whether a certain company (TRILLIAN ASSET MANAGEMENT) was appointed or used as a provider-developent partner for another company (REGIMENTS); if not, (a) wat is the (i) nature and (ii) extent of the appointment, (b) who was the chairperson of the acquisition committee or body of Transnet during the contracting of the company and (c) whether the chairperson has any links with the directors and/or shareholders of the company; (2) (a) Whether the chairperson of the acquisition committee and/or body of Transnet during the contracting of the companies delcared any links with the directors and/or shareholders of the companies and (b) what steps were taken to prevent biased decisions; (3) Whether Transnet itself conducted a feasibility study in this regard; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
(1)(a)(i) Trillian Asset Management was introduced to Transnet as a subcontractor to Regiments and as part of the latter’s supplier development obligations to Transnet. Trillian Asset Management was the lead manager on the ZAR Club Loan.
(ii) The extent of the appointment was to only lead the ZAR Club Loan.
(b) Mr. Stanley Shane was the Chairperson of the Acquisitions and Disposals Committee.
(c) Based on information supplied to us by Trillian, the Directors of Trillian Assets Management at that point in time were:
- Mr. Daniel Roy and
- Mr. Janfaure.
The Shareholders were:
- Mr. Daniel Roy 30%
- Mr. Jan Faure 20%, and
- Trillian Holdings 50% (which is wholy owned by Mr. Sallim Essa)
2(a) Mr Shane, a non-executive director of the Transnet Board of Directors since December 2014, and Chairperson of the Acquisition and Disposal Committee, declared all his interests in line with Transnet’s policies and procedures. According to these declarations there were no conflict of interests.
(b) Transnet assesses its need for specialised services on an ongoing basis and awards work to external parties based on these assessments, ensuring that there is no conflict of interest with Transnet employees.
The grounds for utilising external services providers may range from level of expertise/skills required, to capacity to execute etc. This is also enshrined within the Transnet procurement processes which also prescribe the appropriate delegations or appoval requirements for such engagements.
3. Refer to 2(b) above.