The Democratic Alliance is to ask the Public Protector to investigate claims made in a report on Friday that Public Enterprises Minister Jeff Radebe had lost parastatal Transnet millions of rands in a bungled tender.

"If the allegations levelled against him are even partially accurate, he should hang his head in shame for making a mockery of privatisation," DA public enterprises spokesman Rudi Heine said on Friday.

The Mail & Guardian reported on Friday that Transnet had been ordered by the Johannesburg High Court to pay R57-million in damages to a losing bidder - Sechaba Photoscan - for a privatisation tender.

The newspaper said Radebe "told Transnet to hand a privatisation tender to a company (Skotaville Press) that was patently unsuited to the job - but in which the ruling African National Congress had an alleged financial stake".

Heine said the only people empowered by this deal appeared to be those improperly close to the ruling party.

"The Public Protector must probe the allegations regarding minister Radebe and his director-general Sivi Gounden.

"It should be established why the minister ordered that the tender be awarded to Skotaville Press and whether the ANC holds any shares in this company. If the minister and his DG (director general) are found to have broken the rules, they should both resign," Heine said.

The Mail & Guardian reported that after a drawn-out court battle over the tender award, Transnet now had to pay R57-million in damages to a bidder it knew to be better qualified but dropped after Radebe's intervention.

In the end, all parties agreed Sechaba Photoscan should have been awarded the tender in the first place.

"Evidence prepared for the court action suggests Radebe and his director-general Sivi Gounden disregarded the merits of competing bids to end up favouring a company (Skotaville Press) which was financially close to the ANC," the report said.

The saga started three years ago when rival companies put in bids for Transnet Production House, the parastatal's in-house printing division offered for sale as part of government's restructuring of state assets.

It should have been a lucrative business for the successful tenderer, but court evidence was that Production House was "run into the ground" and recorded a R8-million loss at the end of the first financial year under Skotaville Press.

Judge Suretta Snyders' large damages award to Sechaba Photoscan was based on the argument that with a captive market and if synergies with the new owners were properly exploited, Production House should have made an annual profit of about R20-million, the report said.

Transnet served notice to appeal, but would contest the amount only, not the merits.

Gounden denied knowing of any financial relationship between Skotaville Press and the ANC, and said his and Radebe's intervention was "based on price".

Skotaville Press bid R11-million and Sechaba Photoscan R10-million.

Gounden also denied "instructing" Transnet, saying his and the minister's was a "recommendation".

ANC treasurer general Mendi Msimang said there was no documentation to show that the ANC held any Skotaville Press shares, the Mail & Guardian reported.

Radebe could not be reached for comment on Friday.

With acknowledgements to Sapa and Sunday Times.