Patel wants CEOS to sign ‘no-collusion’ contracts
THE government wants to hold construction company bosses personally liable if their firms are found guilty of bid-rigging, corruption, collusion and price-fixing, by making them sign binding contracts.
Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel said yesterday that because of rampant collusion, which had rocked the industry in the recent past, the Competition Com- mission had received more than 400 confessions. He was speaking at the inaugural Project and Construction Management Professions Conference in Midrand.
Mr Patel said the government was boosting its capacity to plan, procure, manage and monitor projects. It was further working with the construction companies in a bid to clean up the industry.
The government plans to spend about R845bn over the next three years and R4-trillion over 15 years, on public infrastructure projects.
“CEOs in future will take personal responsibility to grow the culture of transparency,” Mr Patel said. “We’ll make them sign some kind of a contract on this.”
The government had also put up incentives for companies that came clean on collusive practices.
Group Five CEO Mike Upton agreed action was needed. “I subscribe to cleaning up the industry and the behaviour of people working in it.”
Esorfranki CEO Bernie Krone said his company was not involved in any on the breaches. “(But) if anybody does these things, they have to be brain dead.
“This case is over and don’t think it will happen again.”
At the same gathering, Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi criticised the private sector for corruption. “This country is engaged in a life and death struggle against corruption and what we now call the tenderprenuers.
“Key to preventing corruption is to put in place strong financial systems and transparent procurement processes.”
The Competition Commission’s Trudi Makhaya gave an update on their investigation of the construction industry. “We are now finalising (the investigation), then will talk to the affected companies on the settlement amount. It’s very hard to put the full amount of settlement, as it will vary.”