Moriel joins 12 firms removed by CIDB over misleading claims
PRETORIA — Moriel Infrastructure Group, RTZ Construction and Projects and 11 other construction companies have been removed from the Construction Industry Development Board’s register after findings that they misrepresented information when applying for higher registration grades. Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson announced the action on 27 October, following a board resolution on 15 October.
The decision affects a requirement central to securing public construction work. The CIDB grades contractors according to their financial resources and construction experience, with public sector clients required to award contracts covered by the registration rules to registered contractors. A higher grade allows a company to compete for larger projects.
The companies removed
Alongside Moriel Infrastructure Group and RTZ Construction and Projects, the companies named are Shumani Development, Magagamela Trade and Projects, Exxeding Grace, Yem Yem Projects and Plant Hire, BBM Khanye Holdings, Lethabo Africa Engineering, TMR Industrial Solutions, Salinkata Trading, King Tar Construction, Batho Vanhu Construction and Ithembalenkosi. Their registrations spanned different construction categories and grades ranging from 1 to 9.
Macpherson said the latest action brought the number of contractors removed for registration breaches since June 2024 to at least 75. He also said a full audit of graded construction companies was underway. The announcement did not detail the consequences for any existing contracts held by the 13 firms or include their responses to the removals.
The CIDB is introducing additional checks on higher-risk applications and requests for higher grades. These will include verifying information directly with banks, public sector clients and other institutions, reducing reliance on documents supplied by applicants. Where fraud or forgery is established, appropriate cases will be referred to law enforcement. The registration decisions themselves are administrative action, not criminal convictions.
For competing contractors, the issue is whether access to larger tenders reflects proven capability. For government clients and communities, unreliable grading creates a risk that infrastructure work is awarded to companies without the resources or experience they claim.
The department is also pushing public bodies to improve construction-project registration. Better records would allow the CIDB to check contractors’ claimed experience against independently recorded projects and awards, strengthening the evidence used to approve future upgrades.
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