CAPE TOWN - Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson says the department’s crackdown on the construction mafia has improved dramatically over the past two years.
At a media briefing at Parliament’s Imbizo Centre, Macpherson says that hundreds of construction-related extortion and intimidation cases have been opened and that 176 people have been arrested since 2024.
Macpherson says before the government’s intervention, the construction mafia’s reign of terror disrupted more than 180 infrastructure projects worth about R63-billion.
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Officials aren’t declaring victory yet, but say response systems have vastly improved since the 2024 signing of the Durban Declaration of Crime-Free Construction Sites.
They also say response times to extortion and infrastructure threats have also improved and that consequence management is also being tightened.
Since September last year, 52 contractors have been blacklisted, with more now under review.
- eNCA's Kevin Brandt reports.