Self-confessed cartelist fined for colluding on Gautrain and other projects

19 November 2015 - 12:59 By Roxanne Henderson

Thanks to its cooperation with the Competition Commission‚ a geotechnical engineering firm will pay less than R1-million for colluding on a Gautrain railway project and other projects. The Competition Tribunal in Pretoria on Wednesday accepted the commission's recommendation that Dura Soletanche Bachy should pay a fine of about 2% of its annual turnover.The tribunal may fine a company found to be guilty of collusion up to 10% of its yearly turnover.But Dura Soletanche Bachy reached a settlement agreement with the commission after it agreed to assist the watchdog in prosecuting those it allegedly colluded with.The company will pay its penalty in 12 equal instalments of around R82000‚ with the first due on December 2.The Competition Commission first initiated action against the firm in May 2009‚ with other complaints following later in 2009 and 2010.Dura Soletanche Bachy alleged that it colluded on 11 projects between 2004 and 2008 with competitors including Ground Engineering Limited (GEL)‚ Esorfranki‚ Diabor‚ Grinaker‚ Stefanutti and Group Five.The companies rigged tender processes to distribute work amongst each other‚ it said. The cartel members would either fail to bid for tenders or bid under an inflated “cover price” in order to ensure the work was given to the company they had agreed on.In 2006‚ Dura Soletanche Bachy was one of the firms to win a tender to work on the foundation of the Gautrain's railway when firms Rogel and Esorfranki allegedly agreed they would offer to do the work at an inflated price of R50-million.Dura Soletanche Bachy was also involved in anti-competitive behaviour in respect of the Durban Undersea Tunnel Project‚ which constructed a tunnel in the ocean to carry sewage to water treatment plants‚ and projects in Lesotho and Swaziland.In 2005‚ Dura Soletanche Bachy agreed to bid for work on the Lusip Dam in Swaziland at a higher price to ensure the GEL was awarded the contract‚ the company said.Speaking for the commission‚ attorney Layne Quilliam said that Dura Soletanche Bachy conducted an independent competition audit when the allegations against it came to light.It then shared the results of the audit with the commission and went as far as implicating itself in a case of collusion the commission did not have details of‚ Quilliam said.Representing Dura Soletanche Bachy‚ attorney Darren Smith said the company's former CEO was responsible for the problematic arrangements and that the company's current head‚ Paulo Natário‚ was committed to wiping the slate clean.Dura Soletanche Bachy has operations in Mozambique and Zambia‚ and has worked on a number of large commercial engineering projects.In 2013‚ it was awarded the task of installing piles‚ used in the construction of foundations‚ for the Square Kilometre Array telescope near Carnarvon in the Northern Cape.Fifteen companies in the construction sector‚ including Aveng‚ Basil Read and Murray & Roberts‚ were ordered to pay a collective amount of R1.4-billion in July 2013 in a settlement agreement for collusive behaviour. – TMG Digital/TMG Courts and Law..

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