Murray & Roberts probes colluders

Murray & Roberts says it is making progress in its investigation into collusion by six former directors of subsidiary companies. The company has previously said that it was committed to legal action against former employees implicated in anti-competitive behaviour and recouping damages from them. Earlier this year, the Competition Commission exposed widespread collusion, price fixing and collusive tendering in the construction industry, fining the firms involved nearly R1.5 billion in total. M&R was one of 15 firms the commission reached settlement agreements with where companies admitted to collusion or were implicated by other companies.

Collusion has been proved in the 2010 World Cup stadiums and other major projects, and it has also emerged that the Cape Town International Convention Centre contract was one of the projects involved. Ed Jardim, spokesman for M&R, said that the group’s chief executive had disclosed the project in the interest of full transparency. “The works associated with the Cape Town Convention Centre project commenced in about 2001. “Although Concor (not a Murray & Roberts subsidiary at the time) did not win the tender, vague evidence suggested that there was an arrangement in place between certain construction firms in terms of which Concor was supposed to win the Cape Town International Convention Centre project,” Jardim said.

The present management of the centre did not want to comment. The project fell out of the scope of the commission’s investigation as it occurred more than three years before the investigation started. This meant that the commission could not impose punishment for any prohibited practices which took place in the project. Jardim said possible action against former directors was being considered by the board. “The commission has provided some evidence to us, but we believe there is more and have requested this from the commission. We have been advised that our request is under consideration,” Jardim said. He said it was in the interests of the company and the board to finalise the matter as soon as possible.

Deputy commissioner at the Competition Commission Trudi Makhaya said they were also conducting thorough investigations into other projects which had not been settled during the settlement process. On the convention centre contract, Makhaya said information had been provided by a company seeking leniency during the settlement process and that M&R was one of the firms implicated in the leniency application. She said the commission had provided information to M&R and had received another request for information to which it was responding.