The agency plans to apply to the High Court to review and set aside the award, according to industry sources.
Irregularities have been uncovered by a SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) investigation into the adjudication procedure followed in the award of the R1.57 billion Masekwaspoort tender to the Chinese Base Major Construction-CSCEC joint venture (JV), according to construction industry sources.
Sanral has now decided to launch a High Court application to review and set aside the tender award and completion of the contract, Moneyweb was further informed.
The roads agency confirmed to Moneyweb on Friday that it has completed its investigation but declined to comment on the outcome and was guarded in its response to other questions.
Sanral media relations manager Lwando Mahlasela said on Friday the details of the findings of the investigation “are confidential and will therefore not be shared with third parties at this point.”
“Pursuant to the completion of the investigation, Sanral will, in due course, take all steps necessary as a consequence, some of which will soon become public in court proceedings,” he said.
Sanral failed on Monday to either acknowledge or respond to follow-up questions emailed by Moneyweb.
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Unsuccessful bidder prompts investigation
The investigation into the tender was launched by Sanral in February 2025, in terms of an agreement reached with Hillary Construction, the second-lowest bidder for the contract.
The 42-month project is for the improvement of a section of National Route 1 from Masekwaspoort in Limpopo.
The implementation and execution of the contract was suspended by Sanral pending the completion of its investigation.
The agreement, which was made an order of court, was reached in February 2025 after Hillary Construction launched an urgent application in the High Court in Pretoria to interdict Sanral from allowing the Base Major Construction-CSCEC JV from implementing and executing the contract, pending the finalisation of Part B of Hillary Construction’s application.
Part B of the application, which seeks to review and set aside the contract award to the JV, is still pending.
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Hillary Construction was approached by Moneyweb on Monday for comment on the latest development regarding its challenge of this tender but declined to comment.
Mahlasela said no steps have been taken by any party since the court order of 14 February 2025.
However, construction industry sources told Moneyweb last week that Sanral suggested to Hillary Construction that Part B of its application remains pending until the roads agency’s self-review application is finalised.
In February 2025, when the contract was suspended, Sanral said it is to be expected that disputes will arise from time to time in the contested terrain of multi-million and multi-billion rand tenders, and any unsuccessful bidder has the right to approach the courts to have the dispute ventilated.
“In this case, an unsuccessful bidder challenged the awarding of the Masekwaspoort tender in court,” Sanral said at the time. “This bidder has made allegations relating to the evaluation, adjudication and awarding of the tender. Without conceding the truthfulness of the allegations, Sanral’s board decided that an investigation must be conducted by Sanral and that, pending the outcome of such investigation, the implementation of the contract should be suspended.
“Sanral and the unsuccessful bidder reached an agreement along these lines, and this resulted in the order handed down in court,” it said.
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The Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) confirmed to Moneyweb in early February 2025 that Base Major Construction’s registration on the CIDB’s register of contractors was suspended at the time Sanral made the Masekwaspoort and another multi-billion-rand contract award.
The CIDB said Base Major Construction’s registration was suspended on 24 November 2024 for failure to submit its annual update, which includes the payment of annual registration fees, and was uplifted on 9 January 2025 following the submission of the annual update and payment of annual registration fees.
Sanral’s website revealed that the Masekwaspoort contract was awarded to the Base Major Construction CSCEC JV on 27 November 2024.
The CIDB’s website states: “Suspended means you are still registered but cannot trade with government until your suspension is lifted.”
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Second contract
The second contract awarded by Sanral to the Base Major Construction-CSCEC JV, during the period when Base Major Construction’s CIDB registration was suspended, was a contract valued at almost R1.57 billion.
This contract was awarded on 28 November 2024, for the upgrade of National Route R61 from Section 6 All Saints to Section 7 Baziya in the Eastern Cape.
Sanral said in February 2025 it awarded the two tenders to the Base Major-CSCEC JV in November 2024 after undertaking its internal procurement processes.
It said the bids for the R61 tenders were evaluated by the Bid Evaluation Committee in February 2024, at which point the legal obligation to ascertain Base Major Construction’s CIDB status arose was active.
Sanral added that there was no legal challenge to the awarding of the R61 tender to the JV.
Mahlasela said on Friday that Sanral remains committed to legality, transparency, and fairness, and that the R61 contract has nothing to do with the matter related to the Masekwaspoort road maintenance contract awarded to the Base Major CSCEC JV.
This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
