Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson has vowed that government would not enter any negotiation with criminal syndicates who purport to represent communities across South Africa, demanding a community share and involvement in construction projects – commonly referred to as the construction mafia.
Earlier on Monday, IOL reported that calls have been made for policy, laws and procedures to be amended to address the construction mafia, which poses a huge burden on the South African economy and hampers foreign investment.
The call to action was made by Professor Irrshad Kaseeram, from the University of Zululand’s Economics Department, in reaction to the joint decision announced on Friday by Macpherson and KwaZulu-Natal Public Works MEC Martin Meyer, to hold an urgent meeting.
In an interview with broadcaster Newzroom Afrika on Monday, Macpherson said the construction mafia has stalled numerous developmental projects particularly across KwaZulu-Natal and in other provinces including Gauteng, Western Cape and Mpumalanga.
“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 said.
“These are not benevolent community-based people. These are people who are highly organised, well armed, who use tactics of violence and murder to get what they want,” he said.
“Those people should not be treated as people who we negotiate with. The only reason we should negotiate is the length of prison sentences they are receiving because they should be treated as enemies of the state,” Macpherson said.
“They are perpetuating crimes against the State, through holding back economic development, job creation and holding back infrastructure projects from being delivered to communities who so desperately need them.”
Macpherson said currently, he knows of over 50 projects that have either stopped, stalled or were withdrawn, running into tens of billions of rands, because of the construction mafia.
“These are not nice people that you can just have a boardroom discussion with. These are thugs, crooks, and they are gangsters,” he said.
IOL reported that the department is set to convene a national summit in KwaZulu-Natal to address the ongoing challenge posed by the construction mafia and to formulate a comprehensive plan that will safeguard the business sector from significant financial losses and stimulate economic growth.
Kaseeram said recent calculations indicate the significant financial burden imposed upon the business sector and the South African economy by the construction mafia amounts to almost R70 billion.
IOL