BEE rivals in Gautrain squabble

details of infighting between top names in black empowerment emerged in a johannesburg court yesterday, where a battle is raging over who the empowerment component is in gautrain’s preferred bidder, bombela consortium.

the court has to decide whether the true representative of empowerment shareholders is strategic partners group, headed by chamber of mines ceo zoli diliza, or the two loliwe companies, headed by architect mbali swana of consulting firm prop5.

the johannesburg high court was packed as representatives from the 23 shareholders making up bombela’s empowerment component crowded into the benches.

swana took the matter to court after being excluded from meetings between bombela partners in negotiations with government on final closure, to which diliza was invited.

swana has asked the court in a two-day hearing to recognise loliwe rail express and loliwe rail contractors and himself as the representatives of a structure approved by the gauteng government.

swana warned in court papers that final closure negotiations, which have taken months and which are expected to be completed in december, may have to be restarted to allow for the involvement of representatives from the two loliwe companies before any contracts could be concluded.

this will extend the delays to a project that is already running on a tight schedule and is expected to begin construction in the first two months of next year.

swana alleged in papers that diliza — as head of the consortium’s original special purpose empowerment vehicle, strategic partners group — approached him in april 2003 for help in drawing up a plan to meet government empowerment requirements.

he said the proposal put forward by diliza was initially rejected by government because it did not have enough significant involvement of shareholders and subcontractors.

swana said it was then decided to create two new companies — the two loliwe companies — to bring in greater black civil engineering and operational skills. these would replace strategic partners group.

the new structure was accepted by gauteng, making diliza’s continued representation at meetings illegal because diliza had no formal role in the new companies, he said.

diliza denies there was ever a deal that the loliwe companies would replace strategic partners group. his counsel, adv william mokhari, said there was nothing to back up swana’s argument.

“there is no signed agreement anywhere to support his claims.”

lawyers for swana claimed that offer documents submitted to government acknowledged loliwe as bombela’s black partners.

they also furnished a press release by the gautrain project which only lists the loliwe firms and makes no mention of diliza’s.

david moshapelo, chairman of accounting firm gobodo and the black business council, is also a director of strategic partners group.