Seven major construction and engineering firms met secretly twice in 2006 to allocate tenders on World Cup stadium projects and to agree on a 17.5 percent profit margin.
Their activities are revealed in details of the settlements and fines the companies agreed to pay the Competition Commission following its investigation into collusion in the construction sector.
Grinaker LTA, WBHO, Murray & Roberts, Group Five, Concor, Basil Read and Stefanutti “reached an agreement in respect of the construction of the 2010 Fifa World Cup stadia, in terms of which these firms agreed to allocate the Mbombela, Peter Mokaba, Moses Mabhida, Soccer City, Nelson Mandela Bay and the Green Point stadia tenders among themselves and to exchange cover prices”, aiming at 17.5 percent profit.
WBHO, which won the R4.5 billion Cape Town stadium contract, admitted to reaching an agreement with Group Five in which WBHO would provide Group Five with a cover price on the basis that Group Five would not win the stadium contract.
Stefanutti admitted to reaching an agreement with WBHO and agreeing to submit a non-competitive bid to ensure that WBHO won.
Stefanutti also admitted to collusion over the FNB Soccer City stadium, where Grinaker LTA provided Stefanutti with a cover price.
In total 15 firms have been fined a total of R1.5bn. - The Cape Times