Cape Town - Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille says her department used a competitive process on the waived requirements when appointing Coega Development Corporation (CDC) to conduct an independent assessment of fire damage caused in Parliament.
Coega Development Corporation was appointed early last month after the National Treasury assisted the department to expedite the process to procure the independent specialist engineering team as expeditiously as possible.
“I have been informed by the Department that the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure used the competitive process on the waived existing requirements by requesting the two implementing agents to compete against each other for the appointment on the assessment phase,” De Lille said.
She was responding to parliamentary questions from DA MP Samantha Graham, who asked the criteria used for appointing Coega Development Corporation for the independent assessment of the fire damage at the parliamentary precinct.
Graham also asked about the value of the contract and the specialist skills of the team performing the assessment.
She also enquired if the specialists were registered with the relevant professional bodies and whether the CDC would be precluded from tendering for work identified by the assessment it was undertaking.
De Lille said the value of the contract was more than R383 000.
“The first output of the first phase, being the initial assessment report that seeks to determine the structural integrity of the fire-damaged building, consists of structural engineers and occupational health and safety professionals.
“The second output of the first phase, being the comprehensive assessment report that seeks to determine the extent of the damage caused by fire, restorative scope and associated cost consists of all built environment professionals including heritage architects, civil/structural engineers, electro/mechanical engineers, occupational health and safety specialists and quantity surveyors,” she said.
De Lille also said all the identified professionals were professionally registered with their relevant councils.
The minister said CDC would not be considered for the work it was currently implementing as it would be a conflict of interest and defeat the competitive process.
“The department has not yet made a decision on the approach it will take until the assessment report is finalised,” she said.
Political Bureau