‘These are not nice people’: Dean Macpherson insists government will not negotiate with construction mafia

Minister of Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson has vowed that the government will not enter into negotiations with criminal gangs claiming to represent communities across South Africa and demanding community ownership and involvement in construction projects – commonly known as the construction mafia.

Earlier on Monday, IOL reported that there have been calls to change policies, laws and procedures to tackle the construction mafia, which is a huge burden on the South African economy and a barrier to foreign investment.

The call to action was made by Professor Irrshad Kaseeram of the University of Zululand’s Faculty of Economics, in response to the joint decision announced by Macpherson and Martin Meyer of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Public Works on Friday to call an emergency meeting.

In an interview with broadcaster Newzroom Afrika on Monday, Macpherson said the construction mafia has stalled numerous development projects, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal and other provinces including Gauteng, Western Cape and Mpumalanga.

Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson. File photo: DOCTOR NGCOBO/Independent Newspapers

“The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government and the national government are very clear and I am very clear with the Minister of Works and Infrastructure that there will be no negotiations, no discussions, no roundtable discussions with them,” Macpherson said.

“These are not benevolent community people. These are people who are highly organized, well armed, who use tactics of violence and murder to get what they want,” he said.

“These people should not be treated as people we are negotiating with. The only reason we should be negotiating is the length of the prison sentences they are given, because they should be treated as enemies of the state,” Macpherson said.

“They are committing crimes against the state by blocking economic development, job creation and the delivery of infrastructure projects to communities that desperately need them.”

Macpherson said he is currently aware of more than 50 projects that have been halted, halted or withdrawn, worth tens of billions of rand, because of the construction mafia.

“These are not nice people you can just have a boardroom conversation with. These are thugs, crooks and gangsters,” he said.

IOL reported that the ministry is planning to host a national summit in KwaZulu-Natal to address the persistent challenge of the construction mafia and formulate a comprehensive plan to protect the business sector from significant financial losses and stimulate economic growth.

According to Kaseeram, recent calculations show that the significant financial burden imposed by the construction mafia on the business community and the South African economy amounts to almost R70 billion.

IOL