<\/p>\n
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) has called on Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy to launch an independent forensic investigation into tender awards by the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) \u2013 or for parliament\u2019s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) to conduct an inquiry into the roads agency.<\/p>\n
This follows Sanral rejecting suggestions that the findings of its investigation into the R1.57 billion Masekwaspoort tender award warrant a probe into all<\/em> the tenders it has awarded to the China State Construction and Engineering Corporation (CSCEC).<\/p>\n Read: CSCEC, in a joint venture with Base Major, was awarded the Masekwaspoort tender.<\/p>\n Sanral\u2019s investigation into the tender award revealed that the tender process was marred by a host of irregularities that collectively undermined the lawfulness, rationality and fairness of the procurement process.<\/p>\n This led to Sanral launching a high court application to review and set aside that award and obtain an order to start the tender afresh.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Outa CEO Wayne Duvenage said Sanral has a massive budget and there are too many concerning decisions that have been taken by it.<\/p>\n CSCEC, which has requested that it be referred to as China State Construction (CSC), said it has chosen not to oppose the Sanral application in the interests of continued positive relations and to avoid lengthy litigation that might further delay the project.<\/p>\n However, CSC said it will clarify its position on certain issues raised in the Sanral application \u201cfor the record\u201d.<\/p>\n The Base Major-CSCEC JV submitted six projects in its Masekwaspoort project tender to satisfy the requirement of demonstrating the satisfactory completion of projects of a specified value and scope.<\/p>\n Sanral chair\u2019s sworn affidavit <\/strong><\/p>\n Sanral chair Themba Mhambi, in a sworn affidavit in support of the high court review application, said none of the projects relied on by CSCEC South Africa were completed by the South African entity itself and the experience cited instead pertained \u201cto related but distinct entities being CSCEC Middle East and CSCEC China\u201d.<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mhambi also stated that:<\/p>\n \u201cThe JV does not appear to be meeting the minimum bid requirements in terms of the key personnel experience and in terms of experience based on the completed projects. These findings were marked \u2018high risk\u2019 in terms of execution of the project, within budget and in the required time frames.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The Due Diligence report found that the JV \u201cdoes not have all the resources necessary to carry out the project as prescribed by Sanral\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The Due Diligence report concluded that the JV \u201cdoes not have the technical and managerial abilities required by Sanral to carry out the project of this nature\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Moneyweb asked Sanral if it will also be investigating the award of the R1.57 billion contract for the upgrade of the R61 from All Saints to Baziya that was awarded to the Base Major-CSCEC JV on 28 November 2024, a day after its award of the Masekwaspoort tender to the same JV.<\/p>\n It further asked Sanral if there was not a need for it to investigate and reevaluate all the contracts awarded recently to the Base Major-CSCEC JV because of the possibility that the issues highlighted in Mhambi\u2019s sworn affidavit also existed at the time other contracts \u2013 such as the R1.8 billion Ashburton and R4.3 billion EB Cloete Interchange Improvement projects in 2022 \u2013 were awarded to the JV.<\/p>\n Sanral\u2019s response<\/strong><\/p>\n Sanral media relations manager Lwando Mahlasela said the averments in Mhambi\u2019s affidavit filed in the high court for the Masekwaspoort tender award review application \u2013 and any investigations referred to in it that were undertaken by Sanral \u2013 \u201conly relate to the award of the improvement of national route 1 section 29 from Masekwaspoort (km 26.50) to km 70.00 awarded to the Base Major-CSCEC joint venture\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cYour queries fall outside of the above tender and court proceedings and are speculative,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cSanral is committed to legality, transparency and fairness.<\/p>\n \u201cBound by these principles, Sanral will deal with any governance issues relating to tenders and otherwise which may arise in the ordinary course without jeopardising any of its efforts in this regard by providing details to the media.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Outrageous\u2019 response, Sanral \u2018hiding something\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT:<\/p>\n CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Outa\u2019s Duvenage described Sanral\u2019s response as outrageous.<\/p>\n He said the questions are justified and not unreasonable or speculative and were seeking an explanation and clarity on statements made by Mhambi in a sworn affidavit.<\/p>\n He claimed Sanral is not being transparent in its response to questions that require an answer and the roads agency is \u201chiding something\u201d.<\/p>\n Read: \u201cI\u2019m hoping Creecy [Minister of Transport] is asking the questions you are asking and getting to the bottom of it and finding out what is going on \u2013 and if they do scratch, they will find a lot more irregularities than these guys [Sanral] want to answer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n ActionSA wants action<\/strong><\/p>\n ActionSA parliamentary chief whip Lerato Ngobeni said in a statement released on 13 November 2025 it has submitted a parliamentary question to Creecy seeking clarity on why Sanral and the Department of Transport continue to engage CSCEC and Base Major Construction despite serious allegations against both companies.<\/p>\n Ngobeni said the uMngeni-uThukela Water Board has already initiated a blacklisting process after alleged misrepresentations were discovered in CVs submitted for a 2023 tender by both companies.<\/p>\n \u201cDespite these red flags, Sanral appears to be moving ahead with major contractual engagements involving these companies,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cActionSA finds this unacceptable and believes that the public deserves immediate answers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is paramount to establish what the Department and the Minister knew, and when \u2013 particularly whether the Minister was aware of the blacklisting process, the full list of existing contracts between the Department, Sanral, and the two companies, and whether any additional contracts with these entities are currently under consideration.<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT:<\/p>\n CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cActionSA has further asked whether the Minister will place a moratorium on any further contracts until all investigations and blacklisting processes are concluded,\u201d Ngobeni added.<\/p>\n \u201cActionSA is deeply concerned by what appears to be a disregard for public procurement integrity and the protection of public funds.<\/p>\n \u201cCompromised entities cannot be allowed continued access to multi-million-rand tenders while serious allegations remain unresolved,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Creecy has not yet responded to ActionSA\u2019s questions.<\/p>\n What China State Construction says<\/strong><\/p>\n CSC stressed that no adverse findings have been made against the company in any legal forum to date, and that it has a strong track record of delivering value in public infrastructure projects in South Africa.<\/p>\n \u201cAs such, CSC is entitled to due process before any purported blacklisting can take place,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n CSC said the allegations raised in a letter from the CEO of Umgeni-Uthukela Water (UUW) were never the reasons given for disqualifying CSC during the tender award process.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are new claims which seek to retroactively justify CSC\u2019s disqualification, after CSC took the awarding of the contract on judicial review.<\/p>\n \u201cCSC\u2019s bid was R1.8 billion lower than the bid selected by the CEO, who overruled UUW\u2019s own bid appeal committee after it found in favour of CSC,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n \u201cSince CSC was not awarded the contract there is no question of it benefiting improperly, which is a basic requirement for Treasury to blacklist a company. Nonetheless, CSC will defend these claims if required.\u201d<\/p>\n Follow Moneyweb\u2019s in-depth finance and business news on WhatsApp here.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Sanral suspends R1.57bn contract award pending an investigation
Sanral taking its time to investigate R1.57bn tender award
Sanral faces scrutiny over tender award during contractor suspension
Sanral uncovers irregularities in R1.57bn tender award to Chinese JV
Sanral admits R1.57bn tender award marred by irregularities<\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
Sanral\u2019s suspension of procurement chief believed linked to R1.5bn Chinese tender award
Sanral lifts suspensions of chief procurement officer and chief audit executive<\/p>\n\n
\n