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Johannesburg - In its last case in the investigation into bid rigging in the construction sector, the Competition Commission on Monday referred the case against WBHO Construction [JSE:WBO] to the Competition Tribunal.
The commission said the construction company colluded with Group Five by fixing contracts relating to the N17 link road between New Canada and Soccer City in Johannesburg.
"The commission’s investigation found that, at a meeting of the South African Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors Association (Safcec), WBHO and Group Five agreed on a preferred set of contractual conditions for the N17 tender issued by the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral).
"On the basis of this agreement, the two companies requested Safcec to approach Sanral on their behalf, to demand that Sanral change its tender conditions and issue the tender with the conditions they agreed upon. This amounts to fixing of trading conditions which contravenes section 4(1)(b)(i) of the Act," the commission said.
Commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele said the referral marks the end of the commission’s investigation of collusive conduct in the construction sector arising out of the fast track process.
The commission's focus will now be on litigation of cases that were referred to the Tribunal for prosecution.
“The construction sector remains one of the key sectors of the economy which government is prioritising to drive infrastructure development. It is therefore necessary to address any collusive conduct which might inflate the costs of rolling out infrastructure development,” Bonakele said.
