Tough arbitration fight awaits Telkom

The same goes for ZTE Mzanzi, which went to court after it was disqualified from the tender process.

ZTE Mzanzi claims that it met all the requirements, while Telkom disagrees. But one could ask why ZTE Mzanzi was awarded an interdict to resolve the matter through arbitration? Telkom highlights how its tender decisions are often taken to court on review and it is confident that its procurement policy and procedures will not be found wanting.

But if Telkom's procurement processes were impeccable, then surely there will not be room for a review. Telkom is constantly under public scrutiny, hence it needs to have proper checks and balances in everything it does. As seen previously, not every company has succeeded in fighting Telkom over tender-related issues.

ZTE Mzanzi wants to be part of the tender as it believes it can do a better job with better technology than one of the preferred bidders. But the interdict threatens its chances of participating in future Telkom processes. Whatever the outcome of the arbitration process, consumers should not be disadvantaged.

SA's premier cement maker, Pretoria Portland Cement, says members of the Cement and Concrete Institute have been notified by the Competition Commission that it may in future only disseminate cementitious sales as a national, quarterly figure, delayed by three months. This follows an injunction in November 2010 that it publish a single monthly total for cement production, rather than breaking it down by provinces and end-users, since such figures could aid collusion in cement markets.

The latest injunction beggars belief, as it further affects the free flow of market information. Industry associations that deal with statistics and represent major cement producers and end-users have in the past said companies do not want to give them information for fear of being accused of price-fixing.

In mid-2008, the commission raided big steel companies at dawn, and also the South African Iron and Steel Institute. A year later it raided major cement makers, including Pretoria Portland Cement, AfriSam, Lafarge and NPC-Cimpor, having stiffened penalties to include jail.

Pretoria Portland Cement now says a cementitious sales figure for the January to March quarter should be published by the beginning of July, and the national sales figure for March will not be released by the Cement and Concrete Institute this week as expected. As Shakespeare might muse: there is something rotten in the state of SA.

Source: Business Day