The Civil Engineering Contractor August 2018 | Page 36

THOUGHT LEADERS
Devil’s in the detail
By Eamonn Ryan
The construction sector’s Voluntary Rebuilding Programme is showing initial results
— but it’s too early to pass judgement.
Royal Bafokeng Stadium under construction.
A
pproval by the Tirisano Trust
of business plans relating to
arrangements made under
the Voluntary Rebuilding Programme
(VRP) is imminent, though some of the
economic alliances have already started
functioning. The actual arrangements
were approved in February this year,
with the detailed business plans now
awaited as to precisely how these
arrangements will work in practice.
Gregory Mofokeng, chief executive
of the Black Business Council in the
Built Environment (BBCBE), says it
is still “too early” to pass judgement
on whether the protocol is a success.
He is, however, in the process of
34 - CEC August 2018
lobbying government to ensure the
arrangements benefit the entire
construction industry rather than just
the select few chosen by the seven
major construction firms.
“This is a highly crucial step in the
implementation of the settlement
agreement,” says Mofokeng. There
are two types of arrangements, based
either on turnover or equity.
“In respect of economic alliances
between the large construction firms
and emerging contractors, these await
the business plans and Tirisano Trust
approval. WBHO and Raubex both have
such alliances that are already jointly
tendering for projects. However, we
are still waiting to see the business plan
for each alliance. Companies opting
for the equity arrangements, with the
exception of Murray & Roberts that
already executed its deal a year ago to
form Concor, still have two years to
conclude their transactions,” explains
Mofokeng.
The jury is still out on
success
“We have yet to be convinced of
the success of these arrangements.
We need the detail of the business
plans in the case of alliances, and
we have yet to evaluate whether the
change in ownership in the Concor