Davies demands clarity from SABS on bribery concerns

Cape Town – Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies told Parliament that he had written to the management of the South African Bureau of Standards to find out how many of its employees have been arrested for taking bribes since the 2015-16 financial year.

The minister said this is a written reply to a Parliamentary question from the DA's Ghaleb Cachalia who sought to find out how many employees at the body were arrested and charged for bribery in their line of work in the past three years.

The regulatory body has a mandate to check various products for compliance to general standards stipulated by law. The body is also in the process of investigating alleged collusion in the testing of coal which the Gupta-linked Tegeta supplied to Eskom.

In the reply Davies said the SABS had not provided a satisfactory response to his office, but stressed that he appreciated the seriousness of any bribery allegations against a regulatory body with the mandate of the SABS.

“The management of the SABS has not provided a satisfactory response containing the requisite information. I have written to the SABS management demanding that they do in fact provide an urgent response to the Department of Trade and Industry,” Davies said.