Johannesburg - It has been reported that the "construction mafia" costs the economy more than R68 billion a year.
This was revealed by Public Works Minister Sihle Zikalala, who recently visited the city of Durban on a monitoring engagement.
Last week, during a media briefing with editors in Rosebank, Zikalala said he too was concerned by the brazen behaviour of construction mafias following his numerous visits to infrastructure development projects across the country.
Zikalala said his department, through a multi-party operation with the Ministry of Police and other stakeholders, had plans to end the worrying practice.
However, the DA in KZN said it was worried about the damage and disruption caused by syndicates operating in the industry.
In a statement on Tuesday, the DA in KwaDukuza said it was disturbing to note that the Hulett Bridge project site in Ward 2 was being guarded by municipally appointed security providers in spite of the reported problems and severity of the matter.
KwaDukuza councillor in the area, Privi Makhan, said the R29 million disaster-funded project has been shrouded in controversy since the handover.
"There have been allegations of extortion from the construction mafia, work stoppages, and community unrest; the project timelines will no doubt be impacted."
"This comes just over two months following Minister of Public Works Sihle Zikalala’s announcement that the state would take strong action against construction mafias disrupting government construction projects. He must perhaps start in his own province and put his money where his mouth is.“
Makhan said the party had formally written to the acting executive director for civil engineering, Fisokuhle Mhlongo, and the municipal manager, Nhlanhla Mdakane, to request specific interventions.
"We have asked for the total number of days the project has been disrupted due to work stoppages by the "construction mafia" and other entities, and that we be furnished with the project time-lines and the conditional grant implications of these ongoing incidents of blatant thuggery.
"We seek to be given confirmation that the contractor has obtained a court interdict to prevent any further interruptions by the construction mafia as well as additional mitigation measures implemented by the contractor to protect the site," Makhan said.
The party said it is of the view that the financial implications of the deployment of a riot unit for an indefinite period and the impact on the Community Safety budget should be considered, as well as the fact that the Pro-Secure Riot Unit is allegedly protecting the area surrounding the site.