Construction mafias target R550-million project in South Africa’s richest province

Tags

---

10-06-2025
Read : 196 times
My Broadband
Source

A construction project worth nearly R550 million to rehabilitate the Golden Highway in Gauteng has been put on hold following violent threats from construction mafias, the City Press reports.

LoneRock, awarded the R548,612,770 tender in early 2025 to revamp the bridge connecting Johannesburg to Vanderbijlpark, says its workers have been shot at and assaulted.

This was revealed in an affidavit filed before the Pretoria High Court on 3 June by director Godfrey Mokabane, which also noted that local taxi organisations had demanded money from the company.

Mokabane told the court he had met with local business members, taxi associations, politicians, and organisations who all wanted a slice of the pie, City Press says.

Despite this, Mokabane made it clear that LoneRock would not submit to the intimidation and coercion.

In a meeting with Gauteng Transport MEC Kedibone Diale-Tlabela and taxi associations, the department suggested LoneRock use the associations for transport. However, the company did not buckle.

Mokabane also pointed out in his affidavit that ward councillors in the meeting had instructed attending police officials to leave. 

He says they then became disruptive, emphasising their displeasure with the police being invited. This ultimately resulted in a chaotic ending and nothing being resolved.

LoneRock eventually received word from the South African Police Service Organised Crime Unit that construction could commence.

However, Jan Greef, the foreman of the Ward 125 site, was later approached by the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) and other individuals, who said construction could not continue until they had been consulted.

The City of Johannesburg’s chief whip, Sithembiso Zungu, previously accused of extortion during a housing development in Lenasia South, is in charge of the ward, according to the City Press.

A contractor involved in the Lenasia South development obtained a protection order against Zungu. However, the chief whip defied the order and was jailed for two months.

MyBroadband has contacted Zungu for comment, but did not receive feedback by publication.

On the same day that Greef was approached by Sanco, a LoneRock mechanic was shot at and pistol-whipped, escaping with minor injuries, Mokabane said.

The director said taxi operators then visited the site, demanding the first month’s payment “whether their services were being utilised or not.”

Local business owners then visited the site, blocking LoneRock workers from entering and making several demands, such as being included as contractors and having work on the project allocated equally per ward.

Mokabane said that eight incidents of harassment and obstructing work duties occurred in March, with another four occurring in April. Construction started in March.

According to the report, the Ministry of police, taxi operators, and business forums are yet to file their opposing papers.

Plans to combat construction mafias

Business forums, also known as construction mafias, have impacted construction and development in South Africa for nearly 15 years.

Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson wants to deploy specialised police units and reform local procurement laws to crack down on the crime.

Macpherson’s spokesperson, James de Villiers, said they have declared war on the construction mafia, which has held infrastructure projects hostage for too long.

“After just four months in office, the Minister helped sign the Durban Declaration with SAPS and the National Treasury to develop a unified approach to ending the construction mafia once and for all,” De Villiers said in February.

“The Durban Declaration, signed in November, provides a framework to restore the rule of law through coordinated law enforcement efforts, reforms to local procurement regulations, and the deployment of specialised police units to combat this scourge.”

De Villiers said reports of construction stoppages are already on a downward trend, and explained that, with construction mafias abusing local procurement regulations, they must be updated.

“The Minister has publicly stated that local procurement regulations have been abused by the construction mafia to solicit bribes, while legitimate small businesses continue to struggle,” he said.

“Therefore, there is a clear need to reform these regulations to ensure criminal elements can no longer exploit them.”

Through the declaration signed in Durban and announced at the National Construction Summit on Crime-Free Construction Sites in November 2024, the parties committed to taking decisive action against construction mafias.

The Minister of Police, Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, various deputy ministers, MECs, and high-ranking police officers attended the summit.