Public works minister Dean Macpherson has decried how extortionists are standing in the way of critical projects crucial to the country’s development.
Macpherson said that since 2019 at least 183 infrastructure and construction projects worth more than R63bn had been affected by the construction mafia.
He also said it was not only government projects that had fallen victim to criminal gangs demanding “protection fees”, but also private initiatives.
The hotspots were mostly in KwaZulu-Natal, especially around eThekwini and Pietermaritzburg. However, the phenomenon had spread to Gauteng, the Western Cape, and now the Eastern Cape.
“It is well documented that the construction mafia is a serious problem in South Africa that seriously impedes our ability to construct infrastructure projects on time, within budget, and — most importantly — without any loss of life,” said Macpherson.
“On a recent visit to the uMkhomazi water project in KwaZulu-Natal, I learnt first-hand how the construction mafia contributed to the death of three people, and serious harm to another. This is simply unacceptable and has to come to an end.”
The construction mafias seemed to be taking over the country, demanding millions of rands from projects in return for doing absolutely nothing.
Several high-ranking government officials, including Macpherson, have linked this phenomenon to a policy developed under former president Jacob Zuma which stated that at least 30% of the people working on a construction site must be from that community.
Communities established forums to enforce this rule, as there were complaints it was not being adhered to, as companies were still bringing in their own employees from other areas to work on sites.
These forums over time evolved into extortion rings that were subsequently taken over by local criminal associations.
Areas such as Mamelodi in Pretoria saw the rise of the Boko Haram syndicate, which was alleged to be demanding protection fees from local shops and tenders, as well as a 30% “localisation fee” from government community projects.
“Under the 30% ‘rule’, many criminal syndicates believe they are entitled to receive at least 30% of an infrastructure budget as part of local community participation, and without that the infrastructure project cannot go ahead,” explains Macpherson.
“However, there may be countless more [projects] affected in other government departments and the private sector. The department does not keep a register of all construction-mafia-related incidents, and the police may therefore have more accurate data on the incidents that have occurred,” said Macpherson.
“Going forward, the department will, however, be keeping a close eye on all construction-mafia-related incidents to ensure we intervene appropriately to ensure the construction projects continue and the lives of our people are protected.”
In the Eastern Cape, the amaDelangokubona continue to wreak havoc in the construction sector. They also intimidate local — mostly foreign — shopkeepers in pursuit of protection fees.
A French company had to walk out of a multibillion-rand project to construct the Mtentu Bridge in Mbizana in the Eastern Cape after it was halted by the construction mafia. Sanral had to settle with the company for millions of rands and reissue the same contract to a different company at an additional cost.
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