AFRICA: ACSA
Bidders wait patiently for new ACSA board to restart tender process
As the South African Airports Company (ACSA) welcomes its new board members, interested companies hope that the tender process for 78 airport stores, which ACSA suspended in July earlier this year, can be restarted. Charlotte Turner reports.
E
arlier this year, Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) was forced to
suspend evaluation of tenders for 78 retail store opportunities while it considered the possible impact of a recent court judgment. Tenders across the company’s
nine airports were initially published in April, however, on 4 July 2018 in the South Gauteng High Court, Mr Justice Phillip Coppin found that a separate and unrelated tender published in 2017 by the company for car hire concessions was ‘unlawful and invalid’. Coppin deemed the tender
‘inconsistent with the Constitution’. “The judgment said that Airports Company South Africa had failed to apply section 217 of the Constitution and the framework legislation envisaged in that section,” says ACSA. The company said that in light
of this judgment and the impact it could have on the tender for retail opportunities, it was suspending evaluation of bids. ACSA reassured TRBusiness that it would advise bidders of the next steps once it had further considered the way forward.
Court case continues... TRBusiness asked Hulisani Rasivhaga in ACSA’s corporate office for an update recently and she confirmed that there had been no further developments in the tender evaluation or in a separate court case involving Big Five Duty Free, Flemingo and Tourvest, covered by
TRBusiness.com. Earlier this year, South Africa’s
Constitutional Court heard an argument made by ACSA who was appealing a decision made by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in a case involving retailers Big Five Duty Free, Flemingo and Tourvest.
OCTOBER 2018
Cape Town International Airport. Source: ACSA.
The case, which is still awaiting judgement, revolves around whether or not ACSA should be permitted to re-issue a tender for the operation of duty free shops at OR Tambo, Cape Town and King Shaka International Airports (the original tender took place in 2009). South African retailer, Big Five,
who originally won the tender almost nine years ago, is arguing that ACSA should be bound by the original terms of the contract win and therefore reinstate its agreement with Big Five. Both of these cases have garnered
much public attention in South Africa, as travel retail presents not just a significant slice of airport income, but also provides a large number of jobs for residents. This is why Beverley Schäfer,
Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, sought to protect the industry, by addressing the problem of lost retail revenue as a symptom of immigration queues, in a forum earlier this year. In a Standing Committee on
Economic Opportunities, Tourism, and Agriculture, which took place on 6 June, Cape Town International
Airport (CTIA) revealed that it loses R25 million ($1.8m) a year in duty free shopping revenue because international visitors are spending close to two hours moving through Home Affairs’ passport control. CTIA said that the number of
immigration officers available for duty at the counters decreased from 82 to 68 despite an increase of 750,000 inbound ‘flight seats’ compared with 2015. In an exclusive interview with
TRBusiness, Schäfer, explained that the loss in revenue is not the only negative impact being felt. “Duty free, while it might be a
profit-making business on the one hand, is certainly where the airport provides jobs to the local people and so that’s how the airport, in a way,
TRBusiness asked Hulisani Rasivhaga for an update recently and she confirmed that there had been no further developments in the tender evaluation or in an important court case involving Big Five Duty Free, Flemingo and Tourvest.
TRBusiness TRBUSINESS 61
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186
