The City of Cape Town is claiming victory in its case against one of the construction companies involved in collusion in the building of Cape Town Stadium after the court dismissed WBHO Construction’s objection and ordered it to pay the city’s legal costs.

According to a Cape Times report, the city says the judgment paves the way for it to recover the amount of damages that it has suffered as a result of the collusion by the construction companies. The judgment was handed down by the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) on Friday. It relates to an objection by WBHO that the city could not rely on admissions made by other construction companies to prove its claim against WBHO.

The court dismissed WBHO’s objection and ordered it to pay the city’s legal costs.

The city is claiming more than R500m in damages from the companies. A number of public entities entered into settlement agreements with the various construction companies in respect of damages that arose from the collusion. Government had reached a settlement with these companies in October. This agreement does not include the money which is owed to municipalities.

Instead of compensating municipalities for the R112bn loss that they incurred, a R1.5bn trust would be set up to help the private sector diversify.

Full Cape Times report (subscription needed)