From the garden province of KwaZulu-Natal, to the rural depths of the Eastern Cape and beneath the shadow of Table Mountain in the Western Cape, they are everywhere. They have even sprouted in the maize field of Free State. The construction mafia digs at any prospect of making big bucks.
For a long time, such crooks have marauded construction sites demanding their share. Except, it is not actually theirs to share in. They simply have the upper hand through coercion, often halting projects if they don’t get their way.
“The reality is that things have gotten to the point of a crisis now,” said public works and infrastructure minister Dean Macpherson in an interview with Newzroom Afrika on Monday.
After mapping the spread of the construction mafia across the length and breadth of the country, he said: “They are bringing misery to our communities” and “driving away investor sentiment”.
That alone says this is an enormous problem. A problem stemming from regulations stating that 30% of public sector projects should be subcontracted to locals. But the locals get none of the benefit and all of the torment (as it stands).
“I don’t doubt that the idea of community development and small business development is noble and important, but clearly this is the problem that we have to confront head on and ask ourselves ‘is there a better way of trying to achieve the same outcome?’,” asked Macpherson.
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Tough stance on construction mafia
It is believed that the construction mafia was spawned by the construction boom prompted by South Africa’s hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Since then, criminal syndicates have had a blast – with little consequence.
The country has lost R68 billion, according to one report, in an industry that employs just over one million people. Police are dealing with 91 cases of extortion, and most of them are related to the construction industry, reported Daily Maverick.
Now, there is a new sheriff in town. Gone are the days when officials considered meeting the saboteurs. Macpherson vows not to bend over backwards for such criminals.
“The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government and the national government are very clear and I am very clear the minister of public works and infrastructure that there will be no negotiations, no discussions, no roundtables with them,” Macpherson insisted.
His answer to the challenge is to get MECs and ministers in the law enforcement cluster around a table. This table must be in KZN, where syndicates have posed as local business forums.
“It’s absolutely crucial that we all get on the same page and we clearly need to find a new way of dealing with these construction mafia and stoppages. What we have been doing persistently is not working, it’s getting worse,” said the minister.
“We need a much stronger stance than we originally had. We’re only going to do that by singing from the same hymn sheet and coming to one room, I believe, and not leaving until we have a common approach of how to deal with these people.”
Meanwhile, Business Against Crime South Africa (BACSA), has committed to continue working with the government and police to bring an end to the extortion.
“Clearly, the nature and magnitude of the impact of these criminal activities requires a coordinated approach from both government and business, with BACSA playing an important part in enabling improved cooperation and coordination across business in alignment with the efforts of government, and the SAPS in particular,” Roelof Viljoen of BACSA told Salaamedia.
Image: Arrant Construction
