This was stated by Transport Minister Jeff Radebe on Friday, at the official sod-turning event, at La Mercy, north of Durban.

Questions had been raised over whether a court application by the Indiza consortium, led by Grinaker-LTA, which is challenging the tender procedures in the awarding of the R6,8-billion contract to a consortium led by rival Group Five, could delay the project.

Radebe told Engineering News Online that, as far as government was concerned, the contract was fairly awarded to the Illembe consortium, and that the project would be completed in time for the FIFA World Cup, which will take place in South Africa in 2010.

"It is now all systems go for the construction," he said.

In December, the Ilembe consortium, led by Group Five and Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon, was named as the preferred bidder to build the King Shaka Airport, which will replace the existing Durban International Airport.

The Indiza group, which included Grinaker-LTA, was reportedly not considered because it did not meet certain tender requirements.