Brian Molefe, Anoj Singh, Siyabonga Gama and Thamsanqa Jiyane now wait like everyone else to learn whether the multibillion-rand case against them will ever be heard. The four men, who once led Transnet, appeared together in the Palm Ridge Magistrates Court in June 2025 on charges of corruption, fraud, money laundering and contraventions of the Public Finance Management Act. On Wednesday, the Johannesburg High Court reserved judgment in their bid to have the case struck off the roll, with a ruling expected on 26 November.
The application was brought under Section 342A, which centres on alleged unreasonable delays in getting the case ready for trial. What is at stake is substantial. The trial concerns the procurement of 1,064 locomotives worth more than R54 billion. Prosecutors allege that Regiments Capital was irregularly brought into the deal, with the value and scope of its contract swelling to more than R305 million. The accused also face charges linked to a R93.4 million payment to Trillian Asset Management in 2015.
For now, the practical question holding everything up is a technical one. The State has proposed arrangements intended to help the accused get to grips with the enormous volume of electronic evidence on which their defence preparation depends. But the State and the defence have each brought in software experts, and those experts disagree. With no resolution between them, the court has been left to decide the way forward itself.
That impasse has pushed the case into a familiar cycle of waiting. Prosecutor Santhos Manilall has opposed the strike-off application, arguing the matter should not be abandoned. The defence, for its part, has leaned on the long delay in readying the trial as grounds for removal from the roll.
The judges’ decision next month could carry consequences well beyond a procedural ruling. If the application succeeds, the accused would walk free without facing trial, leaving the multibillion-rand allegations untested in court. If it fails, the case proceeds, but on a timeline that has already tested the patience of everyone involved.
The High Court is expected to rule on 26 November. Until then, the trial of the former Transnet executives remains in limbo, its fate resting on how the court weighs the delay against the State’s efforts to clear the path to a hearing.