Cape Town - Although the tender for the Open Road Tolling
(ORT) system project was awarded to a foreign company, more than 90% of staff
on the project will be South African, Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele said
on Tuesday.
"It can be reported that 99% of ETC JV staff for the operations of the
system will be South Africans. Furthermore, during the construction of the
civil works, 20 000 direct jobs were created," said Ndebele.
"This project has therefore contributed to job creation and will continue
to do so," he said.
He was responding to a question in the National Assembly by Anton Alberts of
the Freedom Front Plus.
Alberts asked the minister why the tender for the management of the collection
of toll fees for the ORT was awarded to a consortium of which a foreign company
was the majority shareholder and not to a local company.
ETC JV, a joint venture comprising one local and two foreign companies, was
granted a R6.22bn tender to implement and run the Gauteng road tolling system.
Swedish and Austrian branches of Kapsch TrafficCom, an international supplier
of intelligent transportation systems, hold stakes of 40% and 25% of ETC JV
respectively. TMT Services & Supplies, a South African company, holds 35%.
Ndebele said the tender was awarded to ETC JV because it had submitted a tender
offer which was more than R2bn cheaper than the next lowest tender offer, and
because the equipment and software to be used in the project was not locally
available.
He said the SA National Roads Agency Limited also required foreign companies of
ETC JV to put up guarantees in excess of R1bn in support of their ability to
perform their obligations.
This amount was "far in excess" of that which could be offered by any
South African company in this sector, he said.
To ensure that South Africans benefited from the project, the contract required
the contractor to continuously transfer skills and ownership and employ South
Africans in all positions throughout the lifespan of the project.
Ndebele said these requirements would be monitored and the contractor would
receive stiff penalties for failing to adhere to the requirements and
commitments made.
"The contract has very specific measures and penalties to ensure that the
contractor fulfil its contractual obligations. This project has contributed to
job creation and will continue to do so."
He said the tender process was in line with South Africa's commitment to
attract investment and skills and that local companies were not excluded from
the tender process.
The tender was awarded through a public tender process taking into account the
available skills in South Africa.
The objective was to ensure that a quality product would be delivered, said
Ndebele.
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