Construction sector needs values

inlsa

The high-level probe of the construction industry was at an advanced stage, the Hawks said on Sunday. File picture: Timothy Bernard

Johannesburg - The construction sector needs both the right skills and values to create jobs, Aveng Group CEO Roger Jardine said on Wednesday.

“We need not only the right skills, but also the right ethics and values if South Africa is to thrive and jobs are to be created,” Jardine said in a statement.

“It is not only the responsibility of elected politicians to foster trust and integrity in our society. The private sector has a vital role to play.”

On Sunday, City Press reported that top construction companies were being investigated for allegedly fixing state and other contracts worth billions of rand.

Affidavits reportedly detailed a decades-long, formal kickback and price-fixing racket.

At least 11 affidavits had been made by executives of Stefanutti Stocks Ä one of the country's biggest construction firms Ä to the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority, the newspaper reported.

These statements had been handed to the Competition Commission for its probe into construction industry tender-rigging, thought to involve contracts worth at least R30 billion.

Jardine said collusive and anti-competitive behaviour left the economy with a disgraceful ethical legacy.

“South Africa is on the verge of one of the most significant infrastructure rollouts in our country's history...” he said.

“It is important that the procurement process around infrastructure projects be handled with integrity and transparency.” - Sapa