In 1999, two serious accidents took place and severe wildfires took place. Chapman's Peak Drive was declared unsafe by the High Court and the wildfires made the drive impassable. It was closed in January 2000 and only reopened three years later.
It was clear that the cost of maintaining and operating the iconic and much loved #Chappies safely, could not be carried by the South African Tax Payer, most of whom would not ever use the road. Although unpopular, a decision was made that a toll road was the most sustainable solution and the maintenance should be given to the road users and not the tax payers. A concessionaire was identified via a competitive bidding process which would, in turn, produce a public-private-partnership to manage Chapman’s Peak Drive for 30 years.
The reconstructed drive was a milestone in engineering, but also in terms of co-operation between the public and private sectors, between established business and empowerment partners, the lenders and concessionaire and the project itself with the local community. It was the first subsidised toll road in South Africa (Provincial government of the Western Cape put up a significant portion of the capital cost) and was the first toll road deal concluded under the Public Finance Management Act.
The concessionaire was able to obtain a loan to secure the pass, using a combination of safety features, including catch-fences, netting, barring down, a half-tunnel at the most dangerous point, and a comprehensive monitoring system involving CCTV, tremor and weather detection systems.
Entilini Concession obtained the contract and responsbilities were split into Design and Construction (Chapman's Peak Construction Joint Venture - CPCJV) , and Entilini Operations for operation and maintenance. The Chapman's Peak Engineering Group consisted of The Chapman's Peak Engineering Group consisted of Vela VKE Consulting engineers, Melis & Du Plessis Geotecnical Engineers, Stewart Scott International, Zietsman Lloyd Hemsted and assisted bt, Megan Anderson Landscape Architect (environmentalist), OvP & Associated (landscape architect), Dr Ross Party-Davies (geotechnical specialist), Prof Rolf Kratz (structural design specialist). Independent engineer: Jeffares & Green Consulting Engineers, assisted by Intertoll. Independent environmentalists: The Environment Partnership. The Shareholders of Entilini Operations consisted of Concor Facility Management, Marib Investment Holdings, Haw & Inglis
In 2009, a new administration took over and elements of the initial contract were amended, and signed in March 2011, with a working agreement between the Province and the concessionaire.
Currently Marib Holdings (Pty) Ltd and Haw & Inglis (Pty) Ltd have equal 50% shareholding in both Entilini Concession (Pty) Ltd and Entilini Operations (Pty) Ltd
