The City of Cape Town no longer reveals how much it spends on infrastructure upgrade projects due to the risks associated with extortion by construction mafias.
The Cape Town Urban Mobility Directorate is one of the major contributors to fixed investments in South Africa over the next three years, allocating a massive R8.3 billion to road infrastructure upgrades over this period according to Nedbank’s latest Capital Expenditure Project Listing.
The five largest Urban Mobility projects relate to the metro-south east Bus Rapid Transit project – otherwise known as Phase 2A of the MyCiTi bus service – which will connect the communities of Wynberg and Claremont with Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain.
“The projects include the new trunk routes along Govan Mbeki Road and AZ Berman Drive; the Spine Road bus depots; as well as the acquisition of buses,” said Councillor Rob Quintas, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility.
“The projects will be completed in the 2025, 2026, and 2027 financial years, respectively, pending unforeseen delays.”
When questioned by TopAuto on which of these upgrades is the biggest in terms of monetary value, Quintas declined to go into detail.
“Due to extortion and construction mafia risks, the City does not disclose the project values anymore,” he said.
A thorn in the side
Last year, Cape Town brought to light that it was actively being kept from completing critical road infrastructure upgrades due to threats and intimidation by “mafia-style extortionists.”
These criminals targeted the city’s largest ongoing projects with values of anywhere from R195,000 to as much as R27.4 million per job.
At the time, Quintas said these groups were holding the City ransom with “threats, intimidation, and tragically, outright murder” of the contractors on site in an attempt to siphon public capital into their own pockets.
“We naturally have targets for our capital expenditure, and it is disappointing to be forcibly prevented from meeting those targets, but we do not negotiate with extortionists and there is simply no Rand value for human life,” said Quintas.
“It is utterly dismaying to see the rampant and relentless criminal interference with projects that are designed to improve and protect the lives of ordinary, honest residents.”
In the interest of safety for its employees and contractors, and to ensure efficient service delivery, the City has therefore decided to play its cards close to its chest and not reveal the budgets of its active and upcoming projects to the public anymore.
Join the discussion