The South African Forum of Civil Engineering Contractors (SAFCEC) has voiced its intention to challenge a decision by the Board of the National Roads Agency (SANRAL) to cancel nationwide construction tenders worth over R17 Billion.
This follows Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula’s move to back the tender cancellations, with SANRAL saying internal controls meant to guard against corruption were not respected.
SAFCEC’s CEO Webster Mfebe says the matter has been escalated to the National Treasury for investigation.
Mfebe says, “The National Treasury, as we escalated this matter, must investigate whether the projects were cancelled in compliance with the law applicable to the cancellation of tenders and under which conditions you can cancel a tender. And as we understand, it is not a problem of the contractors, it is the problem of the internal processes and failures of government within SANRAL itself.”
Good governance
During a media briefing with SANRAL on Monday, Mbalula said good governance is a key tenet of their service delivery mandate and they will not compromise its underlying principles for expediency.
He says, “We have learnt invaluable lessons from the advent of state capture which brought to the fore lapses that paralysed strategic organs of state.”
“Minister has no role in the procurement processes and we have no interest in the identity of the bidders. Our only interest is to ensure that the Board has given expression to the letter and spirit of the SANRAL Act in the exercise of its responsibilities,” he adds.
FULL STATEMENT: Statement issued by the Ministry of Transport, on the SANRAL Media briefing on 23 MAY 2022 AT 10H00 pic.twitter.com/yATYr1ArHe
— FIKILE MBALULA | MR FIX (@MbalulaFikile) May 23, 2022
