Public Enterprise Minister Jeff Radebe and his director general said on Saturday they were "outraged" at media reports blaming them for the bungled privatisation of Transnet's production house to an allegedly ANC-linked company.

Radebe and his director general, Sivi Gounden, did not immediately respond on Friday to a report in the Mail and Guardian newspaper which claimed they intervened to direct the sale of the production house to Skotaville Press -- which proved incapable of running the business --rather than empowerment company, Sechaba Photoscan.

Transnet was recently ordered by the Johannesburg High Court to pay R57-million damages to Sechaba after it took the matter to court.

Opposition parties reacted to reports of the bungled tender with calls for the Public Protector Lawrence Ramushwana to investigate Radebe and Gounden's involvement.

The minister was said to be "out of town" on Friday but he and Gounden responded to the claims in a detailed statement on Saturday.

"We are outraged that the Mail and Guardian should have questioned our integrity in regard to the sale of Transnet's production house and we have instructed our attorneys to advise us on further action."

They said that contrary to the claims, the fact was that the minister was not involved in the bidding process at all.

Furthermore the director general did not instruct Transnet to award the tender to any particular bidder.

They added that the department was disturbed that the legal claim by Sechaba against Transnet was not brought to its notice.

"The legal strategy adopted by Transnet, especially in regard to not challenging the merits of the Sechaba claim, was not consulted with the department.

"The apparent concession by Transnet that damages are due to Sechaba may be in breach of the Public Finance Management Act," they said.

They also claimed that the non-performance clauses in the contract with Stotaville appeared not to have been monitored, nor was it apparent that any corrective action was taken.

Radebe and Gounden welcomed the statement by Transnet that confirmed its position that no instructions were given on the matter and that the Transnet board would fully investigate the matter.

The newspaper reported that 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 last month 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.

With acknowledgement to Sapa.