Construction mafias ‘threatening many jobs’ in KwaZulu-Natal

The bargaining council for the civil engineering industry has raised concerns about construction mafias threatening thousands of jobs.

The construction mafias are reportedly groups that demand to be paid “protection” money to operate on construction projects.

According to the council, the construction industry employs more than 475 000 people nationwide.

Lindie Fourie, operations manager at the council, said KwaZulu-Natal was the hotspot of these cases, which have since spread to other parts of the country.

She said since KZN embarked on a rebuilding phase following the July 2021 unrest and the recent heavy floods, which left infrastructure damaged, these cases have seen a steady rise.

Fourie said KZN was still likely to continue being the focal point of these mafia activities, considering the magnitude of projects in the pipeline.

She said that the safety of employees and employers on site remains the key concern as they continue to be targeted.

I spoke to many contractors in KwaZulu-Natal and they told me that the situation was extremely bad and explosive. One of the projects has incurred millions of rands in penalties so far due to these construction mafia. It seems like every community we go to, they have construction mafia and as there might be more than one group operating in an area … it becomes extremely difficult to identify who you must engage with.

In many instances, contractors would engage a certain group and reach a settlement only for another group to show up and make demands while they are busy with the project, she added.

Fourie said such disruptions to projects discourage investors, locally and internationally, and the industry as a whole.

These mafias stop the project and make demands. The problem is that if you don’t give in to their specific demands, they will continue to prevent you from being able to operate. They will come heavily armed to your offices pretending to come and talk, yet their main reason is to intimidate. This affects the private investors, government and everyone [else]. How many people do you think will be interested in investing their money in South Africa going forward if these projects don’t get completed in time and within budget? This is a big issue that affects the industry badly.

To combat this type of extortion in the industry, Fourie said she contacted the office of the KZN provincial commissioner, Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, to arrange a meeting.

However, she said, everyone needs to come together to make sure that this is dealt with as this doesn’t only affect the industry, but the whole country.

Fourie said communities also need to understand that actions by the mafias are illegal and are destabilising the development of communities.

If the scourge of South Africa’s construction mafias is not urgently addressed by all stakeholders, the industry, which already faces limited job opportunities, will continue to lose the skills needed to deliver vital infrastructure projects in the country, Fourie added.