The Gupta family-owned Optimum is the company at the centre of the public protector’s State of Capture report.
Optimum owns a coal-mine in Hendrina‚ Mpumalanga.
Its mining rights are dependent on fulfilling its social and labour commitments in terms of the Mining Charter.
By failing to pay for the new clinic‚ Optimum is at risk of losing its mining rights. And‚ following litigation launched in the Gauteng High Court‚ Optimum is also at risk of being liquidated.
In December 2015‚ Optimum hired Re-Action Consulting to manage the construction of a new 24-hour clinic for Kwazamokuhle in Hendrina.
The cost of the contract was R17.2-million‚ to be paid in three tranches. The project was part of Optimum’s Social and Labour Plan that companies with mining rights are legally obliged to implement.
