The recently appointed sheriff in town, DA’s Martin Meyer, has vowed not to accede to the dictates and demands of the so-called construction mafia holding the province at ransom.
In an interview with Sunday World, Meyer, the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for public works and infrastructure, said that while he was committed to ensuring that small and emerging businesses in the construction sector get a slice of the provincial budget, things would be done by the book.
“I’m prepared to engage with legitimate businesspeople, but I will not be bullied or coerced,” Meyer said.
“Those who want to work with the department must go through the right channels.”
In KwaZulu-Natal, the formation is commonly referred to as amadelangokubona, loosely translated as those who give up after showing up and instill fear.
The grouping, comprising taxi warlords, unscrupulous businesspeople, and those who call themselves war veterans, has been unleashing a reign of terror on construction sites.
They are demanding a stake in lucrative infrastructure projects.
Heavily armed, they employ fear tactics and threaten death to hound the government into giving assent.
The hostility has led to companies fleeing and abandoning construction sites, and many who rely on construction jobs are becoming jobless.
Law and order
Meyer said he stands ready to decisively deal with those who are hell-bent on destabilising the construction of key projects.
“We would not allow lawlessness and crime to reign supreme. We will work closely with the department of community safety and the police to ensure that law and order are maintained,” said Meyer.
The construction syndicates claim they are forced to engage in hijacking construction sites because they are not accommodated in the 2017 Preferential Procurement Regulations.
According to the regulations, the state should ensure that 30% of public works contracts above the R30-million mark are given to small companies as a way of advancing the interests of those defined as previously disadvantaged.
Other plans, according to Meyer, include releasing state land lying fallow to the Department of Human Settlements in order to accelerate housing provision for the poor working class.
Infrastructure task team
“This will be done through recruiting professionals who will be part of the infrastructure task team.
“We will also establish an infrastructure agency to cater for the province’s infrastructural needs,” he said.
Meyer was a DA councillor under the eThekwini metro before his deployment to the provincial legislature.
The new premier, Thamsanqa Ntuli, appointed him and the party leader in KwaZulu-Natal, Francois Rodgers, to serve in his cabinet.
Rodgers was appointed as the MEC for finance.
The arrangement is part of the provincial pact comprising the DA, ANC, IFP and NFP, which ensured that despite the former president Jacob Zuma-led uMkhonto weSizwe Party gaining the majority of provincial votes at 45%, it was relegated to the opposition benches.
