Thobani Shandu, the mayor of Ilembe district in the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal, believes the so-called business mafias who have over the years kept municipalities at ransom must not be treated as enemies.
Shandu’s comments come as high-ranking government officials, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, have declared a war against business mafias.
The groupings comprise business forums. And they often use fear and underhanded tactics to demand contracts from government departments and municipalities.
The Ilembe district has been among the worst affected districts, with business formations running riots. They demand a piece of the pie in lucrative projects. Those especially administered under the KwaDukuza local municipality.
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The district is one of the most sought-after in KZN because of its prime location. The posh suburb of Ballito falls under it.
“While there have been problems in the beginning, we were able to iron them out. We are now working well with business forums and we don’t treat them as our enemies,” said Shandu.
He was speaking during the state of progress of various multimillion-rand water and sewer projects. These had previously been halted due to the hostility of business forums.
The forums are known to employ mafia-style tactics to deal against their perceived detractors.
The Ilembe district houses four local municipalities. These are Mandeni, KwaDukuza, KwaMaphumulo and Ndwedwe.
KwaDukuza is one of the top five municipalities in the province endowed with one of the healthiest budgets. Key projects under it were hamstrung by the forums with frequent project interruptions, protests and vandalism.
The situation escalated and spilled over to the municipal council. This with some politicians supporting the forums, while others said they should be called out. It also divided the ANC caucus in the council.
