Earlier today, The Aveng Group’s CEO Roger Jardine hosted a conference call for local and international investors to update them on the company’s trading conditions and Competition Commission matters. He says the steel environment continued to affect the company’s results to December 31 2010 and while infrastructure spend in South Africa has slowed down, he was confident that public investment in infrastructure will return in the medium term. Commenting on the Competition Commission’s investigation into the construction sector (see SENS attached) he said:

“It is deeply concerning that such practices exist in the construction industry. It is clear that these pervasive practices, which have also been uncovered in other sectors in corporate South Africa have to be rooted out.”

Jardine adds: “The Aveng Group will continue to cooperate with the Competition Commission as it has done since 2008. We are doing everything we can to detect past practices through internal investigations to ensure that anti-competitive behaviour of any size is prevented and to take the industry forward on a new footing. The measures that we have in place include a compliance review, immunity and tip-off hotlines as well as ensuring that we have thoroughly trained staff on Competition Law. ”

Highlighting the importance of the private sector in eradicating anti-competitive behaviour, Jardine said: “Going forward, institutional memory is a very important weapon to combat this anti-competitive behaviour. In one matter affecting us only three of nine people implicated are still with the company. It is important that the regulators work with the new generation of industry executives in a collaborative manner to uncover anti-competitive behaviour in all sectors of the economy. It is my view that the private sector must take a lead in building an ethos of trust and transparency in our young democracy if it is to be sustainable. Elected politicians and civil servants are not the only people that are responsible for upholding values of trust and integrity in our society. We need to ensure that as the private sector we break the culture of blaming others for corrupt practices.”

Jardine concludes: “Aveng will work with the government, the Competition Commission and with civil society to improve business practices so that our society as a whole can be strengthened. The Construction industry is a very important sector in the South African economy, employing an estimated 400 000 people. The behaviour of senior executives should not detract from the sacrifices and commitment of the hundreds of thousands of workers in this country who often put their lives on the line to deliver good roads, stadia and other infrastructure for all of us.”