Zimbabwe railways body sued over tender dispute

South African firm Diaspora Infrastructure Development Group (DIDG) is suing the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) for ‘unlawfully’ terminating a R5.85bn tender awarded to it in 2017. DIDG, a consortium of Zimbabweans registered in SA, partnered with Transnet to recapitalise NRZ. As part of the deal, NRZ leased 13 locomotives, 200 wagons and 34 passenger coaches from Transnet. However, a TimesLIVE report notes that they allegedly failed to provide proof of funding within 12 months of the framework agreement and the Zimbabwean Government, which owns NRZ, removed the ‘exclusivity clause’ from the deal to allow other interested parties to approach the government. It then terminated the tender in July after a series of Cabinet meetings and consultations with DIDG. Through lawyers Atherstone & Cook, DIDG has claimed the cancellation was ‘grossly unreasonable’ and argued that they did not breach any of the tender conditions.