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2 days ago

Controversial Trust Medium 65% #prasa #corruption #ynf-engineering #investigation #rail-transport #state-spending #legal-threats #news24 #south-africa

PRASA refurb deal: YNF Engineering received R970m amid corruption allegations, legal threats

Podcast Briefing 2:45

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Key Strategic Points

  1. 1 PRASA's R7.5 billion general overhaul contract aims to restore train services across South Africa's economic nodes, particularly in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Western Cape, where the rail network has deteriorated significantly since 2018.
  2. 2 YNF Engineering, one of seven contractors on the project, received R970 million or more than 40% of the R4 billion spent to date, making it the largest beneficiary of the contract expenditure.
  3. 3 A draft Weber Wentzel law firm report cited in the investigation alleges YNF officials engaged in corruption, bribery of PRASA employees, invoicing for work not completed, and fraudulent practices to secure preferential contract treatment.
  4. 4 YNF managing director Jade Orin denied the allegations and threatened News24 with litigation, claiming the journalists would face personal lawsuits and that the publication's support would be insufficient against legal action.
  5. 5 Orin allegedly also threatened to hire social media operatives to launch a coordinated attack campaign against the journalists on Twitter to discredit their reporting.

Notable Quotes

“You are not going to write any story about this. I'm going to sue you if you're going to lie about us, lie about our business which going to cost us revenue.”

— Jade Orin, Managing Director, YNF Engineering

“I will clean you out in your personal capacity. I will sue you. I want to see if your employer will help you out when I really sue your pants off.”

— Jade Orin, Managing Director, YNF Engineering

“[Paraphrase] I will hire people to write about you on Twitter to attack this whole thing and discredit you.”

— Jade Orin, Managing Director, YNF Engineering

“We're made of sterner stuff. We don't take kindly to being threatened, and we always advance the truth.”

— Jeff Wixs, Investigative Journalist, News24

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