Three firms face stadium civil claims
The City of Cape Town is pressing ahead with civil claims against three construction companies for collusion on the tender for the design and construction of Cape Town Stadium.
The City of Cape Town is pressing ahead with civil claims against three construction companies for collusion on the tender for the design and construction of Cape Town Stadium.
The city expects its legal battle in pursuit of R500m to continue after the “first stumbling block” was cleared at the end of March.
Mayor Patricia de Lille said on Friday the High Court in Pretoria had also ordered companies to make submissions in coming weeks. This paves the way for the city to begin seeking to recoup damages.
“They [the companies] really have nothing to gain in trying to delay this,” said De Lille.
At the end of March the High Court in Pretoria found in favour of the city, when it denied an application from one of three construction companies — Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon (WBHO). The company had asked the court to ensure that admissions made by other construction companies in settlement agreements could not be used against it, as the city pursues its claims.
The principal legal adviser to De Lille, Jana le Roux, said on Friday a written judgment was expected this week.
The city’s damages claims will be filed against WBHO, Aveng and Stefanutti Stocks.
The companies were part of 15 firms who in 2013 reached a settlement with the Competition Commission and were fined R1.46bn for alleged collusion from 2006 to 2010. In October 2016, Aveng, Raubex, Stefanutti Stocks, WBHO, Basil Read, Group Five and Murray & Roberts reached an agreement with the government to make a further collective contribution of R1.5bn to the Tirisano Trust.
The trust was established to help speed up transformation in the construction sector.
De Lille has called into question whether metros and municipalities would benefit from this agreement, describing Tirisano as a “slush fund”.
Aveng and WBHO did not respond to requests for comment.
Stefanutti Stocks CEO Willie Meyburgh declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.