Construction of the high-speed train connecting Johannesburg, Pretoria and Johannesburg International airport will begin ”today”, Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa said on Saturday.
He also announced Bombela, a French-Canadian-South African consortium, as the preferred bidder for the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link Project (Gautrain).
”Work begins today. Today we have to sit down with the preferred bidder and point out what is that we are not happy with and so forth,” he said.
Bombela beat Gauliwe Consortium, now the reserved bidder.
”Both consortiums were very good but Bombela was just better,” he said.
Shilowa said the Bombela Consortium won the bid because it exceeded most of the targets set by the provincial government.
These included the 15,3% target for equity participation, which Bombela exceeded by presenting a figure of 25,6%.
The target for sub-contracting to black economic empowerment (BEE) companies was set at 32%. Shilowa said Bombela had exceeded this by 10% — ”a rand value of R2,8-billion”.
Another target was that of procurement from BEEs, set at 29%, which Bombela presented at 41% — to the value of R1,3-billion.
Bombela also exceeded the target for procurement from and sub-contracting to new BEEs by 8% — to the value of R2,7-billion.
Members of the group — comprising of Bombardier Transportation, Bouygues Travaux Publics, Murray & Roberts and the South African Loliwe companies and RATP Developement — said they had only been told of the decision on Saturday morning.
Group spokesperson and project director, John Cartnell, said it had been a close race but that the public interests had been well-served.
Bombela said it has also allocated R54-million to socio-economic development projects initiated by the Gauteng government in consultation with the consortium.
The company said these would range from social events to training and development and the construction of a clinic.
Shilowa said it had taken a long time to announce the preferred bidder as his government had wanted to be ”thorough”.
”It is necessary to be thorough and prudent,” he said.
”After the original proposals were received from the bidders, it became clear that the procurement process should be extended to include a best-and-final-offer (Bafo) phase”.
Shilowa said this was caused by, among other things, the green field nature of the project, the requirements arising out of the environmental impact assessment and the associated risk pricing with particular emphasis on geological conditions and
interrogations.
He said that although such projects all over the world took an average of 14 years to complete, the government believed the Gautrain would be completed by 2010 when South Africa hosts the soccer world cup.
Gauteng Finance MEC Paul Mashatile said the Gautrain project was expected to create 148 000 jobs and would contribute between 0,7% to 1% to the province’s gross domestic product.
He said this would assist the government in meeting some of the objectives of the Gauteng Growth and Development Strategy.
Mashatile said negotiations with Bombela regarding the final concession agreement and achieving financial closure would take about six months.
Construction would begin once the contract had been finalised, he said.
The Gautrain project will see 10 stations, three of which would be underground in the Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane municipalities.
It will operate between Johannesburg and Pretoria with stations in Sandton, Midrand, Johannesburg International airport.
The project will also provide a link between Mamelodi, Atteridgeville, Soshanguve and Mabopane.
The construction will affect about 400 households. The Gauteng government say the evaluation of the properties will begin as soon as possible and that the owners will be paid what their houses are worth, including an extra percentage as compensation.
Bombela Consortium said the rail service would start off with 75 carriages, each with the capacity to carry 100 passengers, and the number will increase according to demand.
Tickets are expected to cost between R18 and R19, although this is still to be finalised. – Sapa