WATCH LIVE: Transnet locomotive deals back in spotlight at Zondo Inquiry

PRETORIA - Former Transnet electrical engineer Francis Callard returns to the state capture commission of inquiry Thursday where he is expected to wrap up testimony about several irregular locomotive contracts worth billions of rand.Callard has described how tenders were rigged to favour a Chinese manufacturer and how Gupta-linked consultancy firms were hired at a cost of hundreds of millions of rands to do work capable of being done by the parastatal’s own departments.His testimony has taken the state capture commission of inquiry into deeply technical aspects of locomotive design and manufacture.When at Transnet, he was responsible for assessing train specification demands, whether the products were fit for purpose and how the products could be best used by the country’s various rail networks.But Callard has described how his and other technical expert advice and recommendations were simply ignored by executives who didn't have the expertise to make such unilateral decisions.The result was the purchase of trains that required significant specification changes at a great cost - both financial and time - to Transnet.Callard is expected to finish leading his evidence this morning before a new witness is called.WATCH: Transnet locomotive deals back in spotlight at Zondo Inquiry
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