Patel says construction fund will be ‘open to public scrutiny’

Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel has pledged that all transactions pursued under the R1.5-billion Tirisano Fund – which is to be capitalised by the seven construction companies that recently signed up to the Voluntary Rebuilding Programme (VRP) – will be “be open to public scrutiny”.

Under the VRP, Aveng Grinaker-LTA, Basil Read, Group Five, Murray & Roberts, Raubex, Stefanutti Stocks and WBHO have pledged to establish the development fund as part of a broader seven-year transformation package negotiated in the wake of findings of widespread collusion in the sector, which resulted in 15 firms being fined a combined R1.46-billion in 2013.

Besides the fund, the seven companies have pledged to either sell large equity positions to black South Africans, or facilitate partnerships to raise the combined revenue attributable to black contractors to as high as R27-billion a year within the seven-year period.

Responding to a Parliamentary Question posed by the Democratic Alliance’s Michael Cardo regarding the fund, Patel said that the trust to administer the fund was still in the process of being established and that funds will be dispersed only once trustees were in place to allocate funding on an annual basis.

The money would flow through the National Revenue Fund and be appropriated by Parliament to the Tirisano Fund to ensure Parliamentary accountability.

“It has been agreed between government and the construction companies that all the transactions in the Tirisano Fund will be done on a transparent basis, all beneficiaries will be publicly disclosed and all financial transactions of the Fund (including administration fees, consultancy payments – if any and if warranted), as well as payments made to any individual or company, should be open to public scrutiny,” Patel said in his written reply.

The trust would provide support for the following activities:
• Bursaries for black students studying engineering, quantity surveying and building science.
• Bursaries for the development of black artisans including through mentorship and employment placements.
• Maths and science education in public schools.
• Special social development projects such as rural bridges, student accommodation, clinics, schools and sports-fields.
• Building capacity in the State on engineering, project management and other infrastructure services in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of public infrastructure.
• And enterprise development programmes for small, black-owned construction firms, including through the provision of working capital at concessional rates and support on performance bonds.

“The Trust will report publicly on specific projects to be selected and the companies, individuals and communities who will benefit, once the Tirisano Fund has made such allocation,” the Minister added.