The new Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson has said that the department will join forces with the City of Cape Town to tackle the construction mafia.
The minister said that government will not tolerate or negotiate with criminal entities.
“From my very first day in office, I have been clear that the South African government would not be negotiating with criminals such as the construction mafia, but would rather work with all role-players to address this scourge in our communities to safeguard our infrastructure projects,” he explained.
“I therefore welcome the joint effort by the private and public sectors in Cape Town and look forward to similar actions being replicated nationwide,” Macpherson added.
Earlier this week, Old Mutual and other business entities said that they would join forces to fight the mafia and their impact on developmental projects.
The minister says he is on a mission to eradicate the rise of lawlessness at construction sites and said that it would require that all South Africans work together, and make use of new and innovatory approaches to fight crime.
“The construction sector should be playing a bigger and more important role in growing our country’s economy. This is only possible if we ensure our sites are safe and public and private sector investments are secure from lawlessness and extortion,” he noted.
“By working together, we will be able to turn the tide against the construction mafia in South Africa to ensure that they no longer operate with impunity. I look forward to working with the South African Police Service and the South African Revenue Service to further identify these criminals and expedite accountability.”
“It is imperative that to grow the economy and to create jobs, we turn South Africa into a construction site, which can only take place if we break the back of the construction mafia,” Macpherson said.
Wage a war
Macpherson told the media at a visit to the uMkhomazi Bulk Water project on Tuesday that government has promised to wage war against the construction mafia in KwaZulu-Natal.
“Where there is criminal activity we’ve got to bring people to book. They must go to prison, we mustn’t give them cash which is happening at the moment. We give them money and we hope that they go away,” he emphasised.
The minister said that the Managing Director of the uMkhomazi Bulk Water project was nearly assassinated outside of his home and that was ridiculous.
“How can you be under threat of dying for doing your job? We are going to wage a war and it’s a war we must win because if we don’t then it is South Africa that is going to suffer,” he concluded.
IOL BUSINESS