The Coega Development Corporation (CDC) may be forced to award an R82-million contract to a white-owned family firm, Business Report wrote on Wednesday.
This would happen if the Port Elizabeth High Court ruled in favour of Scribante Construction, which is disputing the awarding of the contract to an empowerment consortium.
Scribante has taken the CDC — which manages the Coega industrial development zone near Port Elizabeth — to court over its procurement process.
In May, the CDC awarded a civil works contract to the empowerment group Sakhisizwe even though it scored lower than Scribante.
Although the CDC has admitted in court papers it was wrong to give the contract to Sakhisizwe, it has accused Scribante of deception over the credentials of its empowerment contractors.
The National Prosecuting Authority has also entered the fray, confirming on Tuesday that it is investigating Scribante for theft and fraud.
In court papers filed this week, CDC chief executive Pepi Silinga said the contract awarded to the Sakhisizwe joint venture should be set aside because the empowerment criteria on which the bids were measured were not advertised.
However, this did not mean Scribante should get the contract, as Scribante deceived the CDC about its empowerment subcontractors, Silinga said.
Scribante contracts manager Deon Smit has rejected the allegations. ”We did not file any false information. We are confident we will get the tender. [The CDC] is grasping for straws.”
Scribante secured an urgent interdict in July to halt a civil works project after Sakhisizwe was awarded the contract.
Sakhisizwe, which has a 76% empowerment shareholding, bid almost R9-million more than Scribante’s R82-million bid.
Scribante has no empowerment shareholders, but scored higher than Sakhisizwe based on price, the fact it was a local business, and because it had subcontracted work to empowerment companies.
The case is to be heard on August 24. — Sapa