Saftu lays charges against Trillian

5th October 2017 By: Thabi Shomolekae - Creamer Media Senior Writer

Saftu lays charges against Trillian

The South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) on Thursday said it had laid criminal charges against Gupta-linked Trillian and its directors, at the Hillbrow police station.

This follows a mass march by Cosatu‚ the country’s largest union federation‚ against state capture last week.

Saftu said evidence in the public domain established a clear and compelling case of criminal wrongdoing on the part of Trillian.

The federation stated that it was taking up the fight against corruption and the looting of the country’s wealth, together with civil society.

“The Saps [South African Police Service] and the DPCI [Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation] have a duty to investigate these crimes in the interest of the South African public, and must do so diligently and without delay,” said Saftu.

Saftu stated that it was aware that several criminal charges have already been laid against Trillian and persons implicated in their dealings with Eskom and other State-owned enterprises but that it was now laying further charges against Trillian and its directors for criminal wrongdoing in its dealings with Eskom and Transnet, including committing acts of fraud, theft, corruption and money-laundering. 

Speaking to Polity, Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said they had received the docket and it had to be evaluated by the commercial crimes division before investigators were appointed to do proper investigations.

Mulaudzi cautioned that the process would take a long time.

Gauteng police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters said as with any other case, the police would investigate it if it had been opened or reported to a police station.

“At this stage, we are not in a position to confirm nor deny whether indeed such a case has been opened,” she said to Polity.

The federation said they were able and prepared to approach a court to compel the Saps, DPCI and the National Director of Public Prosecutions to investigate and prosecute Trillian and associated companies.