Johannesburg - Construction group Aveng [JSE:AEG] expects to
pay a fine for anti-competitive behaviour once a probe into fraud in state and
other contracts worth at least R30bn is wrapped up, its chief executive said on
Thursday.
"We have absolutely no interest in playing cat or mouse
games with any authority. These matters are grave, they are serious and we have
to deal with them," Aveng chief executive Roger Jardine told Talk Radio
702.
"We have told our stakeholders that we do expect to pay
a fine."
Aveng is one of several construction companies being
investigated for tender irregularities around projects that include the
building of soccer stadia for the 2010 World Cup.
The City Press newspaper reported on Sunday that the Hawks,
an elite police investigative unit, were also conducting their own probe in
parallel with one by competition authorities that began in February 2011.
Referring to the competition investigation, Aveng said it
had applied for leniency, a stance that does not equate to an admission of
guilt but indicates a willingness to cooperate.
South Africa's largest construction firms include Stefanutti
Stocks Holdings [JSE:SFP], Wilson Bayly Holmes - Ovcon [JSE:WBO] and Group Five [JSE:GBF].
Jardine said Aveng had made provision for a potential fine
by competition authorities.
"It's now about taking this industry out of its
disgraceful past and putting it on a good footing for its future," he
said.
Follow Fin24 on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest.