Chairperson, in Cope we are as appalled as this august House, the business community, the labour unions and South Africans in general by the report in the City Press of a massive settlement between R60 million and R70 million paid out to the Mthunzi consortium by Transnet.
What is going on with Transnet, and is the Minister supportive of all of this? All of us certainly would like to know more about the suspension, calls for the reinstatement of persons to their posts, contestation for power, legal battles, the cavalier disregard of proper procedure and processes, and now a massive out-of-court cash settlement running into millions.
When Maria Ramos took over Transnet, she found that there was no record of any sale agreement with the Mthunzi consortium for 5% of MTN's shareholding held by Transnet through the M-Cell Trust for the capital benefit of the second defined benefit fund. If these shares were sold, the board's approval of the trust would have been required for any disposal of these shares and any agreement of sale would have created a paper trail.
Maria Ramos said that there was no agreement, so for what reason is R60 million to R70 million being given over to the Mthunzi consortium? Scopa and the Auditor-General should investigate this matter at once and those who are at the centre of this whole sad, sorry, despicable saga should be fully investigated and action taken against the offenders. [Time expired.] [Applause.]