Transnet this week reached a settlement believed to be in the region of R350 million with Cameroon Airlines (Camair) for bribery and breach of contract by the transport giant's subsidiary, SAA.
So determined was Transnet to win the case that it resorted to both questionable and unorthodox methods.
For instance, Transnet's head of internal audits, Nigel Payne, purportedly sent an e-mail, now in the possession of Business Report, to a security operative in London offering that Transnet was prepared to pay up to $2 million (R11.6 million) for documents that would help it win the case.
Neither Vuyo Kahla, Transnet's legal adviser, nor the lawyers for Camair were prepared to disclose the exact amount. Kahla said the matter had been tabled for the Transnet board meeting on Tuesday. Only after that, would he be able to disclose the figure.
However, Transnet had budgeted R367 million as a contingent liability for the matter in its financial statements to August 20.
Camair and a Cameroonian consulting company, Advanced Technics Trust (ATT), sought compensation before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) for breaches of contracts they had with SAA for the maintenance of Camair's aircraft.
A three-man tribunal appointed by the ICC, which sat in London, found that SAA had engaged in corruption by bribing both Cameroon government and Camair officials.
The tribunal adjudicators were split on the amount of damages to be awarded. Two adjudicators awarded the plaintiffs R50 million, while the third put the award close to R516 million.
Camair and ATT appealed to the English high court, which found that the tribunal had erred in addressing issues that had not been raised at its hearings. It, therefore, referred the matter back to the tribunal for reconsideration of the value of the services provided by SAA to Camair.
Transnet made the settlement after the referral.
In original papers before the Johannesburg high court, Transnet and SAA sought to renege on the contracts on the grounds that they had been obtained by SAA officials who had paid bribes.
Both Camair and ATT claimed SAA was in breach of contract.
In his supporting affidavit, Payne said the agreement was illegal and void because it was entered into to channel corrupt payments to Cameroon.
"The purported agreement ... is against public policy in that it is inimical to the interests of the community, conflicts with the law and morality and runs counter to social expedience."
Payne said that in 1998 he received information from SAA staff that business entered into between it and certain African states raised serious concern.
On that basis, he decided to investigate the prime transaction, the ATT contract.
He interviewed John Hare, the head of SAA finance, who said he strongly suspected that the commission to ATT was used to pay bribes to various senior people within either Camair or the Cameroonian government.