South Africa: DA welcomes war on construction mafia

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has long called on the national government to effectively combat the Construction Mafia, which has crippled the construction industry. Now, Minister of Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson has announced that a national summit will be convened to abolish the criminal syndicates.

The Public Prosecution Service welcomes this step and Minister Macpherson’s decision to investigate stolen money and failed projects, including the Telkom Towers affair in Tshwane and the R300 million IT theft over a 10-year period.

The public and private construction sectors can no longer afford to ignore or tolerate systematic extortion. Collaboration is essential to develop sustainable solutions that protect their collective interests and those of the public. We believe this summit will be a step in the right direction.

It is vital that Minister Macpherson and his department continue to find solutions to tackle corruption, boost national infrastructure projects and transform South Africa into a construction site.

We hope that this positive step by Minister Macpherson will be followed in the fight against the growing mafia and protection rackets in schools, churches, formal and informal trade and the entertainment industry.