Transnet former legal chief in court for alleged cash and ‘illegally co-approving’ an R25m payment

Kenneth Diedricks, the former legal head of Transnet Freight Rail, appeared in court after being charged with accepting bribes of R300,000 in cash and a Persian carpet from two companies with which the state-owned entity did business.

On Wednesday, he appeared in court alongside Charles Pretorius and Refiloe Martins of Polyzomba Rail Contractors, the company accused of paying him the cash bribe.

Bail was set at R10,000 for each of the three accused.

According to the charge sheet, Diedricks “illegally co-approved” an R25 million payment to Polyzomba, a company that does rail track construction and maintenance.

Polyzomba received the payment for “ancillary” services after earning R64 million for a contract to replace rail panels on a railway line in KwaZulu-Natal.

Pretorius and Refiloe are accused of paying R300 000 into the account of Diedricks’ conveyancing attorneys as a down payment for an R3.7 million home in Bassonia, Gauteng, in 2013, nearly two years after approving the payment.

The cash payment was made as “gratification” for the earlier R25 million payment, according to the state.

Later that year, Diedricks is said to have received an R20,000 Persian carpet from Umthombo Resources, a company that did business with Transnet.

It’s unclear why authorities waited so long to file the case, given that allegations of corruption against Diedricks first surfaced in July 2015.

According to City Press at the time, a year-long audit by PwC discovered evidence that Diedricks had received kickbacks from Polyzomba.

Diedricks also forwarded confidential company documents to groups competing for rail tenders, according to PwC’s investigation. These allegations, however, are not included in the state’s case.

At the time, Diedricks refused to comment and threatened to sue if the article was published.

More evidence against him was revealed in the media three years later.

According to City Press, Diedricks’ “spurned” ex-wife Yvette Diedricks filed an affidavit with the Hawks, claiming Diedricks used cash bribes to pay for lavish vacations to New York, Dubai, France, and the Bahamas.

“Kenneth ensured that we take our international holiday trips during the time that TFR staff got paid their annual performance bonuses so that it didn’t raise eyebrows with his colleagues at work,” she stated at the time.

The trial of Diedricks, Pretorius, and Martins has been rescheduled for March 7, 2023.