The Airports Company of South Africa (Acsa) has confirmed its action against banking group Nedbank awaits the president’s signing of a proclamation for the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).
Acsa said it was in the process of determining the exact quantum of losses in financial and other terms that it would require as a refund from Nedbank.
The Zondo Commission recommended in 2022 that the law enforcement agencies should investigate Nedbank for its alleged role in a corrupt deal involving interest rate swop transactions it concluded with Acsa between 2009 and 2011, which involved the Gupta-linked Regiments Capital.
The wheels of justice move slowly, but last week Transnet and the SIU finally announced they intended to sue Transnet in a bid to recover R2.7 billion in interest rate swops dating back to the State Capture-era in 2015/16.
Acsa too wants to recoup lost funds.
Regiments acted as financial adviser to Acsa and Transnet and coined massive fees from brokering funding arrangements for the state-owned enterprises.
“The amounts paid to Regiments concerning the interest swop agreements are approximately R50 million. Acsa will seek to recover this amount along with any additional losses suffered due to the interest swop contracts once the legal process is fully under way and the legal team is appointed,” Acsa said.
The Acsa interest swop contracts with Nedbank and Standard Bank were procured through the corrupt involvement of Regiments Capital and former Acsa treasurer, Phetolo Ramosebudi.
Acsa in response to questions on whether it would enjoin with Transnet and the SIU in its legal battle against Nedbank, said it had at this stage not yet excluded any legal action options.
“However, Acsa will determine its course of action once a legal team has been appointed and the full extent of Acsa’s claim has been fully ventilated. The primary goal is to recover all monies or damages suffered due to the conduct of any of the implicated parties as recommended by the State Capture Report,” Acsa said.
Acsa said it had been actively engaged in reviewing aspects of the State Capture Report by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
After the report was released in January, 2022 Acsa said it had developed an implementation plan to address the recommendations related to recovering funds from implicated parties. This plan involved conducting extensive due diligence.
“Following these engagements and due diligence, the Acsa board decided to refer the matter to the SIU for further investigation and litigation. As of August, 2023 Acsa received confirmation from the SIU that it had assessed the documents to determine the prospects of success in litigation.
“The SIU confirmed that it would apply for a presidential proclamation, which has been submitted to the Department of Justice and is currently awaiting the president’s consideration and signature. The referral to the SIU encompasses all matters related to the Acsa interest swops, including those involving Nedbank,” Acsa said.
On how it had addressed the tainted derivative interest rate swop agreements entered into under state capture, Acsa said it had conducted due diligence and engaged with implicated parties, including Regiments and the banks to source relevant documents and explore settlement possibilities.
When no settlements were reached, Acsa referred the matter to the SIU for further investigation and litigation.
Nedbank maintains it has done no wrong in the swop transactions.
Reporting its interim results yesterday – where it posted earnings that increased 8% to R7.91bn in the six months to June 30, it said no provisions were set aside for the Transnet legal case in its interim results.
The bank repeatedly stated that its “management was satisfied that there is no evidence of any Nedbank staff dishonesty, corruption or collusion”.
In Nedbank’s 2023 integrated report former CEO Mike Brown, said the bank continued to co-operate fully with various inquiries and investigations in respect of these transactions.
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