Nonprofit business rights watchdog AfriBusiness will launch an application against Transnet regarding the new multi-product pipeline’s (NMPP’s) completion and implementation.
The NMPP, which entailed the building of a pipeline for the transportation of various fuels from Durban, in KwaZulu-Natal, to Heidelberg, in Gauteng, was initially estimated to cost around R11-billion; however, the current bill stood at more than R29-billion.
AfriBusiness believed the costs escalated owing to current Eskom CEO Brian Molefe’s involvement in the project. “Molefe has been implicated in various projects and contracts that have cost extensively more than what was budgeted, spanning over his days as CEO of Transnet to his position as CEO of Eskom,” said AfriBusiness law and policy analyst Armand Greyling.
The organisation believed the application would reveal that “Molefe can neither be regarded nor praised as diligent or responsible”, following news that he was granted a performance bonus by Eskom for his part in the company’s turnaround.
Further, the watchdog pointed out that, as part of the NMPP, various storage tanks in both Durban and Heidelberg had to be upgraded or built to store the fuel and had to adhere to strict quality control measures and standards set out by the American Petroleum Industry. It noted, however, that to date, none of the storage tanks upgraded or built adhere to these standards, with the result that no fuel had been delivered by the pipeline.