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Wednesday, October 28, 2009.

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Shannon de Ryhove.

Making headlines today:

Some disputes have arisen on variations to construction work on the 25,4-billion-rand Gautrain project between the Gauteng government's Gautrain Management Agency (GMA) and the Bombela consortium, which is responsible for building the rapid-rail link.

GMA CEO Jack van der Merwe says that there have been around 20 variations on the work Bombela had to do since the signing of the contract and the start of construction in 2006.

Van der Merwe says it has disputes remaining around 10% of these variations, having resolved 90% of the cases.

He says it is highly likely that it will turn to arbitration to resolve the remaining claims.

Van der Merwe didn't want to divulge the money involved.

He adds that the disputes won't affect the project's progress, with the first phase between Sandton and the OR Tambo International Airport due for completion next year.

The National Treasury has included a 192-million-rand expenditure revision in the mini-Budget, released on Tuesday, for a possible claim against Denel Saab Aerostructures (DSA) by European aircraft manufacturer Airbus.

The Medium Term Budget Policy Statement indicates that the charge, which is still subject to verification, relates to "DSA's failure to meet performance targets as part of the 2004 acquisition of eight A400M aircraft".
South Africa is a risk-sharing partner in the A400M programme.

The revised expenditure estimate also comes amid claims and counterclaims surrounding the cost of the aircraft.

Also making headlines:

South Africa's National Treasury supports higher Eskom tariffs.
South Africa may set up a fund to boost jobs and industrial development.
A newly launched initiative is on course to strengthen solar research capabilities.
And, Internet Service Provider Cybersmart switches back to Telkom's SAT-3 cable.

That's a round up of news making headlines today. For more on these and other stories please visit engineeringnews.co.za.