A total of 745 cases of construction-related extortion have been reported since the construction summit held in Durban last November, public works and infrastructure minister Dean Macpherson said on Friday.
He said 240 arrests were made in relation to those cases. “No longer can you disrupt our sites without consequences.”
Macpherson said Gauteng remained the highest contributor with 241 cases reported and 81 arrests, followed by the Western Cape with 198 cases and 73 arrests. In KwaZulu-Natal there were 102 cases and 16 arrests, while in the Eastern Cape, 86 cases were reported and six arrests made.
“Collectively these four provinces account for 84% of all construction mafia extortion cases,” he said.
This was one of the key updates received at the first quarterly meeting of the minister and MECs for public works and infrastructure from all provinces. The meeting was held in Limpopo on Thursday.
More than 100 days had passed since the National Summit on Crime-Free Construction Sites where the historic Durban Declaration was signed between the police, the Treasury and the department of public works and infrastructure.
“It was the first time that the government convened with different stakeholders to develop a comprehensive joint approach to bring an end to these disruptions, which chase away investment and delay construction projects.”
Macpherson added that since then, remarkable progress was made towards restoring the rule of law at construction sites and halting extortion by criminal elements. “The summit has been shown to be a turning point in our fight against the construction mafia.”
“The latest data obtained from the SA Police Service shows that major progress has been achieved through intensified intelligence gathering, data tracking and law enforcement operations,” he added.
This included the deployment of economic infrastructure task teams to known construction mafia hotspots which ensured swift arrests and protection of infrastructure.
The anonymous extortion hotline, established through the Durban Declaration at the summit, has received 779 reports, leading to 30 cases being referred to provincial authorities for immediate intervention.
“This is a major breakthrough in our fight against criminals and gangsters who think they can threaten our projects with impunity. The public is no longer scared of them and will provide us with information to reclaim their infrastructure projects, which serve their communities,” he said.
He thanked the police and police minister Senzo Mchunu for the leading role they have played in helping to turn the tide against the construction mafia. They have built a partnership, he said, which is turning the tide against those who seek to inflict economic terrorism on the country.
Macpherson said the Construction Industry Development Board, a departmental entity, has initiated collaboration with the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (Psira) to address extortionists who pose as security firms.
“This initiative will ensure that there is stricter monitoring and regulatory enforcement by Psira of security companies operating within the sector.”
Macpherson said engagement with the Treasury has started to see a reform of the regulations under the Public Procurement Act, which will close the loopholes used by the construction mafia to demand 30% of infrastructure project procurement.
“It remains my firm belief that the 30% local procurement rule, which was introduced by the National Treasury under former president Jacob Zuma, has been used by criminal syndicates to extort contractors.
“If we want to bring an end to these criminal syndicates at infrastructure projects, we will have to remove the incentives which these criminal syndicates use to operate.”
TimesLIVE
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