President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday promised a crackdown on the construction mafia and other gangs involved in the extortion of businesses across the country.
“We are to go after these gangs. We are to go after those people who hijack building sites,” he said.
“All of those, whether they are in the taxi industry or construction industry, who do wrong things, they will have to pay and be accountable for their wrong activities.”
He made the undertaking when responding to oral questions posed by DA MP Tim Brauteseth in the National Council of Provinces about the personnel and resources allocated to the special units Ramaphosa mentioned in his State-of-the-Nation address as having been established in every province to combat the scourge.
Ramaphosa said the SAPS had established 20 economic infrastructure task teams throughout the country.
Eighteen were established at district and two at provincial levels, with 946 personnel.
“They are experienced people and knowledgeable within their functional environment,” he said.
Ramaphosa also said R20 million had been ring-fenced and allocated for the task teams’ operational needs in 2022/23 and R17m in this financial year.
The task teams made 4 000 arrests in connection with damage to essential and critical infrastructure since their establishment between June 2022 and June this year.
They arrested 70 suspects for extortion at construction sites, 3 000 for illegal mining, and confiscated copper, rail tracks and other materials.
“Sabotage of infrastructure and the economy continue to pose a great threat to the country’s development.
Through the work of the economic infrastructure task teams together with partners as well as the private sector, we are making progress in combating these crimes.”
Ramaphosa said they would continue to give the task teams the resources they needed to make sure these types of crimes were curbed.
“The money allocated is small but I would like to see more allocated to them so that they become much more effective than they are now,” he said.
Brauteseth noted that Ramaphosa said the team had arrested 70 suspects in connection with the construction mafia whereas Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Sihle Zikalala put the figure at 200.
He asked whether there would be a presidential hotline for businesses falling victim to the construction mafia, whom he described as so-called business forums that morphed into other businesses, so that they could report and receive SAPS intervention.
In his response, Ramaphosa confirmed that the construction mafia had morphed into gangs that went around intimidating businesses.
Meanwhile, Ramaphosa said he had no reason to believe the findings of the inquiry that probed circumstances surrounding the docking of the Lady R vessel at Simon’s Town last December were irrational.
“In fact, I believe the findings of the panel were completely rational,” he said.
Cape Times