KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli said he has directed responsible MECs to urgently organise an engagement with the construction industry in the next few days to address issues within the industry. He said this is one of their efforts to try and address the construction mafia in the province particularly in eThekwini.
Ntuli addressed the media on Wednesday about the resolutions discussed in the Cabinet Lekgotla which took place this week. “This engagement is designed to unlock opportunities for qualifying, compliant, upright businesspeople in the sector but also protect the integrity of the sector,” he said.
He said they would try to find out what the government and the industry are not doing right. “We believe that this will yield positive actions if not there will be corrective measures,” explained Ntuli.
Last year the former Department of Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Sihle Zikalala said the construction mafia cost the economy more than R68 billion, before the Covid-19 pandemic in 186 projects.
The newly elected premier under the Government of National Unity in KZN said the government had put construction and infrastructure development at the centre of their new economic growth strategy for the province. “No one can argue with the fact that KwaZulu-Natal is a construction site as it is visible on the national and provincial road network as well as human settlement,” he said.
We are noting with concern the disturbances of projects in the construction industry in the province.
Talking about their plans for fighting crime in the province, Ntuli said there would be a crime summit on August 2, in eThekwini.
He said the objectives of the summit are, among other things, to create a platform for a collective approach in pinpointing the key causal factors of the culture of violence and murder in KZN. Deal with the issue of violent protests that result in the destruction of public infrastructure and also design a clear intervention strategy.
Sunday Tribune