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Cape Town - The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) has reiterated its claim that construction for the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) was overpriced by an estimated R10bn to R11bn.
READ: Outa stands by its report, vows to reveal more
It was responding to the South African National Roads Agency Limited's (Sanral's) statement on Monday that it has lodged civil damages claims with the Gauteng Local Division High Court against construction firms found guilty of collusive conduct by the competition authorities.
Sanral is claiming between R600m and R760m for what it said were "damages and overcharges as a result of the companies’ collusive conduct". The agency served papers to seven construction firms and the joint ventures they formed.
Outa lashed out at Sanral, saying it believed the agency's response is "insufficient and a slap in the face of the people of South Africa".
Outa chairperson Wayne Duvenage said: “It took Sanral nearly three years to come up with this miniscule calculation and it is vague and lacking in detail.” He added that Sanral should explain to what extent these civil claims pertain to the GFIP.
READ: Construction firms to oppose Sanral's R760m damages claim
Construction firms Murray & Roberts and Basil Read have said they will oppose Sanral's claims. Besides these two companies, the roads agency is also claiming damages from Concor, Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon, Group Five, Stefanutti Stocks and Raubex.
Sanral spokesperson Vusi Mona clarified that the claims are not confined to the GFIP but include works that were carried out in other parts of the country.
Duvenage asked: "... what are the other projects they are referring to, and how much on each of these do the civil claims apply to? One supplier is responsible for 74% of the claims due. The public requires absolute transparency and far more detail on this matter than Sanral is providing."
He added that as much as Sanral "would like to ignore the question, this adjustment makes little difference to the estimated R10bn to R11bn overpriced construction costs for GFIP. When will Sanral answer the simple question: 'Did the public receive fair value for the GFIP at R17.9bn (less the few hundred million of their civil claims due to be recovered)'?" asked Duvenage.
Outa said additional research it has carried out "further substantiates our claims that the public has been grossly overcharged on the GFIP project under Sanral’s watch", adding that it will report on this in greater detail in future.
"Outa will not allow Sanral to fob off this serious issue, until we have detailed explanations of why this situation has transpired and how Sanral (intends) to account for the estimated R10bn that the GFIP project has been overpriced by," said the civil rights body.
