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SKJ - Sekunjalo Investments Limited - Sekunjalo response to Media reports
Sekunjalo Investments Limited
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
Registration number 1996/006093/06
Share code: SKJ
ISIN: ZAE000017893
("Sekunjalo" or "the Company")
SENS Sekunjalo response to Media reports
Dear STAKEHOLDER,
On Sunday the 4th of March 2012, the Sunday Times published an article headlined
"Sekunjalo in deep water over problem tender".
This article has been part of a series of media articles over the last few weeks
which have portrayed Sekunjalo in a negative light in relation to the R800
million tender awarded to it by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries. The reports were factually inaccurate in material respects in
relation to Sekunjalo, and in Sekunjalo`s view, the articles exhibited a strong
bias against it. In this regard, the reports which were published have
disregarded most of the facts and submissions provided by Sekunjalo. We do not
know what has motivated the media to conduct itself in this way. Whilst we avoid
open engagement with the media in its reporting on the affairs of our company,
we are constrained to do so in the present circumstances, given that our good
name and reputation has come under attack.
Now that the litigation process has come to an end, we are able to place on
record our position on the award of the tender. Sekunjalo was in fact the
innocent third party in the proceedings brought by Smit Amandla Marine against
the Department. The proceedings were intended to set aside the award of the
tender by the Department to Sekunjalo, which Smit Amandla Marine regarded as
challengeable for various reasons. The complaint was directed at the Department,
and the Sekunjalo Consortium and all the other bidders was joined to those
proceedings only because the result of the determination of the dispute would
obviously have impacted on the award of the tender by the Department to
Sekunjalo.
As far as Sekunjalo is concerned, it as a tenderer complied with the law and all
processes in relation to the completion of its tender submission and also in its
engagement with the Department as part of the tender evaluation process. Given
the nature of the dispute, Sekunjalo took the firm decision to abide the
decision of the court and to let the true protagonists in the dispute ventilate
their respective contentions in court.
In the result, however, the Department resolved to concede the primary relief
sought against it by Smit Amandla Marine to set aside the award of the tender in
relation to the manning, management and maintenance of the Department`s fleet of
research and fisheries patrol vessels.
The Sekunjalo bid was structured as a consortium between certain of its
subsidiaries, KND Naval Design, and thirty black-owned SMMEs, through which the
Consortium demonstrated its strong commitment to the transformation of the
marine engineering service industry in the Western Cape. Sekunjalo as a
corporate group was more than satisfied that it was able to meet all of the
deliverables required for this contract, given its provision of significant
marine engineering services to its own shipping fleet, and the shipping fleets
of other international companies. Having its own berthing space and harbour
facilities along the coastline of South Africa, and being able to draw on the
skill set and experience of its own vessel operators and crew and also KND Naval
Design, and that of the black-owned SMMEs, the consortium was justifiably
confident in its ability to carry out the services. If it did not consider that
it had the requisite skills and experience to carry out the responsibilities
under the contract, Sekunjalo would not have submitted the tender.
Moreover, during the tender adjudication process Sekunjalo presented its bids in
a transparent manner and responded fully to questions posed to it by the
adjudication committee. The Sekunjalo group participated in four consortium
bids, each structured on a different economic model which provided the
opportunity for the Department to choose the model which best suited its
requirements and those of the National Treasury. Each of these bids were fully
and transparently disclosed and supported by presentations as part of the bid
adjudication process. The decision of the Sekunjalo group to submit four
alternative bids for the purpose of providing the Department with the most
flexibility in choosing a financial model that was the most cost-effective for
its purposes and accordingly the most beneficial to the fiscus.
Much has been made of the alleged conflict of interest of Sekunjalo in operating
its Premier Fishing fleet and having sought to bid for the tender. The reports
have been crafted on the basis that this issue had never received the attention
of either Sekunjalo or the Department in the evaluation process, and was a
matter only discovered through investigative journalism. This is patently untrue
as this issue was fully disclosed by Sekunjalo in the bid adjudication process.
As part of the engagement by the evaluation committee with Sekunjalo, the
Department proposed to address any such perception of conflict through a
rigorous contract negotiation process, as well as the imposition of control to
ensure a separation of interests between Sekunjalo`s stake in Premier, and its
participation in the Departmental contract.
Part of the media reports have deliberately questioned the capability of
Sekunjalo to fulfill this contract on the basis that it does not have
experience, necessary training or berth space. This is decidedly not the case.
Despite the enormous historical disadvantages that Sekunjalo has had to overcome
to take its place in corporate South Africa generally, it should be readily
apparent that it has the requisite skills and abilities to tackle every
transaction that it is involved in. Although companies like ours were for
decades excluded from the opportunities of tendering for services such as those
under discussion, we have, we believe, despite these disadvantages, developed
into a commercial force well-capable of meeting all of the deliverables under
the contract.
Black-owned companies should not continue to be perceived as being incapable of
or unable to deliver industrial services either to the public sector or to the
private sector. Black-owned companies are not different to any other companies.
Sekunjalo`s growth is carefully managed via a strategy adjacent to its existing
investments based on sound operational, commercial, professional and strategic
reasons. The Sekunjalo Consortium based its tender on its existing engineering
resources and experience, together with strategic plans to supplement any
additional staffing and skills as might be required.
We have repeatedly stated that our business should be judged on its delivery and
on its cost savings to Government along with job creation and skills development
and more importantly enterprise development. Sekunjalo voluntarily included its
partnership to deliver this contract with thirty SMME`s from the poorest black
communities of Cape Town that have been marginalized from the economy of the
City. Our involvement of the thirty SMME`s was a part of an extensive skills
development and enterprise development programme to deliver cost effective
services to the Department. After all, according to data from Wesgro the marine
engineering is the most untransformed sector in the county with practically no
black ownership. There is a suggestion that black companies should only buy
shares in existing corporates. Sekunjalo operates contrary to that notion and
combines successfully its approach of developing core industrial skills base
along with strategic investments.
Sekunjalo values its partnerships with its strategic joint venture partnerships
and consortia, and its relationships with all of its employees, regardless of
race. Sekunjalo has always been a company that is at the forefront of economic
transformation and has conducted itself in a manner which is inclusive of all
South Africans. Sekunjalo is committed to continue doing business as a partner
of choice with the utmost integrity and to ensure that the values which have
formed the cornerstone of its foundation will continue to guide it in the years
ahead. We trust that you as our stakeholders will be able to draw your own
conclusion from the above and thank you for your continued support. Our setting
out of the facts herein is to allow our shareholders, our employees, our
customers, our associates and the general public an opportunity to decide for
themselves and to make a fair assessment about our position on this matter.
We assure you of our unwavering commitment towards doing good and doing well in
our country and on our continent.
Cape Town
07 March 2012
Sponsor
PSG Capital
Date: 07/03/2012 07:05:01 Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za
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