Transnet says it has issued summons to former top executives implicated in financial mismanagement with a view of recouping some of the squandered money. 

Popo Molefe, chair of the Transnet board, was on Thursday giving the media an update on the operational status of the State-owned freight rail company which has been mired in allegations of state capture and maladministration.

Molefe says Transnet is reviewing the controversial contracts for 1064 locomotives, saying the company did not need all the trains.

He also said that the company lost R1-billion under its previous management, and was in the process of attempting to recoup the money.

Molefe, who was in May 2018 appointed by Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan to head the group's interim board, has been tasked with restoring governance.