The South African government and stakeholders in the construction industry have devised a way to deal with mafia-style extortion groups who use violence to disrupt critical construction projects for financial gain.
“The so-called construction mafia – organised extortion gangs that use violence to gain a share of lucrative projects – continue to disrupt projects in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, and the Western Cape,” said Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana during his annual Budget Speech today, 12 March 2025.
“Government and industry stakeholders have agreed on an approach to end criminal disruption at sites.”
Godongwana didn’t reveal which tactics the authorities will follow, presumably to avoid being thwarted by criminals listening in to the speech.
He added that a recovery in construction mafia incidents “is expected during 2025, as sentiment rises and interest rates ease.”
Construction mafias wreaking havoc
Construction mafias have wreaked havoc on South Africa’s ongoing road upgrade initiatives in recent years, targeting high-value and smaller projects alike.
In mid-2023, the City of Cape Town announced that R58.6-million worth of developments were either on hold or completely stopped due to threats and intimidation by “mafia-style extortionists.”
Among these was a R16.9-million road rehabilitation programme at Kalksteenfontein and a R27.4-million MyCiTi bus depot expansion in Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain.
The constant attacks saw the City of Cape Town create a 24-hour anonymous hotline (080 000 6992) in through which whistleblowers could report extortion, as well as up its spending on security at construction sites by R55 million.
It now also puts municipal employees in safe houses if they are threatened, and has stopped announcing the value of its infrastructure programmes to the public so as to avoid attracting too much attention.
Looking at the country as a whole, a recent document released by Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy – titled Confronting the Challenges facing the timely Delivery of viable Public Infrastructure Projects to Communities – revealed that construction mafias led to the delay or cancellation of at least four major road upgrades across South Africa between 2018 and 2024.
Two cases were highlighted in Mpumalanga as well as two in the Eastern Cape.
The Eastern Cape cases are particularly significant as they concern two of the biggest bridges in South Africa, the Mtentu and Msikaba bridges, which boast a combined budget of R5.7 billion.
In response to these incidents, government has employed the services of the South African army to protect contractors working on the valuable bridges from construction mafias.
While extortion and intimidation at flagship projects have died down in recent times, the construction mafia problem remains prevalent in more remote regions of the country.
Employees of the National Roads Agency continue to be harassed by community leaders on a regular basis when they attempt to fix potholes in and around small towns and villages as part of the Vala Zonke campaign, said Department of Transport spokesperson Collen Msibi.
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