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I must make it clear that anyone who is threatening any form of unrest will be arrested.
SAHRC probes alleged extortion ring at Pretoria East flats
JOHANNESBURG – The SA Human Rights Commission says it is looking into allegations of extortion at the Nellmapius Heatherly flats in Pretoria East after the building was allegedly hijacked by local gangsters.
More than 500 families occupying the three blocks of flats fear for their lives claiming to be terrorised by alleged gang members.
They’ve told Eyewitness News that gangsters armed with rifles and pocket knives have demanded an occupancy fee since 2020…
Evidence Links senior SAMWU leader in Tshwane to torching of waste truck
Scam Alert | Unwelcome guests
Discussion | Looming threat to online banking
Pressure point — New legislation impacts RICA, and why legal surveillance reforms are urgently required
ADaily Maverick webinar hosted by Heidi Swart, senior investigative journalist, and research and journalism coordinator for Intelwatch, dived deeper into the conversation of why legal reforms to South Africa’s espionage laws are urgent and examined the effectiveness of the 20 year-old bill. It also explored whether or not the reform would be a step forward or yet another constitutional deficiency. ... Read more
Social Justice - "It takes a lawyer, an activist and a storyteller to change the world"
In an era in which human rights are under threat, their words offer both an inspiration and a compass for the way movements can use the law – and must sometimes break it – to bring about social justice.
Adverts on/off? You choose.
The contributors here take you into their worlds. Close to home, Maverick Citizen editor Mark Heywood looks back at the way the Treatment Action Campaign used the law to make Aids antiretrovirals available to all South Africans, and Kumi Naidoo applies the lessons he learned in the anti-apartheid struggle to his global activism at Greenpeace and Amnesty International.
E-hailing shutdown
City of Cape Town laments impact of extortion in construction industry
Reana Steyn warns about tapping cards
The Ombudsman for Banking Services, Reana Steyn, has encouraged people to be careful when paying by tapping cards, mobile phones and watches.
The Ombudsman for Banking Services, Reana Steyn, encouraged people to be careful when paying by tapping cards, mobile phones and watches.
Paying with cards, mobile phones and watches makes life easier but people should be careful as this method is being used by fraudsters to steal people’s money... Read more
CRIME STATS: Three Tshwane stations in top 10 has highest serious crimes in SA
Pretoria Central, Sunnyside and Brooklyn are among the top 10 stations in the country with the highest levels of serious crime.
Minister of Police Bheki Cele’s release of the latest crime statistics paints a sobering picture of the crime situation in Tshwane.
The latest quarterly crime statistics provide an overview of the crimes reported and detected between April 1 and June 30 of this year.
Three Tshwane stations namely Pretoria Central, Sunnyside and Brooklyn are among the top 10 stations in the country with the highest levels of serious crimes... Read more
Construction mafia crippling housing projects – Kubayi
Human settlements minister Mmamoloko Kubayi says government is increasing spending on security to protect housing projects because of onslaughts by the construction mafia.
Kubayi said her department has asked the security cluster to help deal with the problem. She said government has had to reduce the number of housing units it meant to build to accommodate security costs... Read more
Another company has been watching you in your bedroom
Most gadgets that we have make some aspect of life easy or fun; they are harmless. Other gadgets, however, bring with them security implications; if abused, they can harm us. Perhaps the most obvious example is an indoor camera, and once again we have learned that a well-known company has been abusing the cameras in our home. Amazon owns the line of Ring cameras, and the FTC found that Ring employees and their contractor in Ukraine have had open access to view the videos from their cameras. They looked for cameras with labels like “master bedroom” and “master bathroom” and targeted looking at women. The company did not bother to track when their employees were conducting such abuse.... Read more
Can the Construction Industry Be Disrupted?
In 1910, the French artist Villemard created a series of illustrations imagining life in the year 2000. In one of his drawings, an architect sits in a booth pushing buttons on a console to manipulate a series of machines operating in the usual debris of a construction site. The various machines cut, shape, lift, and place stone blocks to build a house. There are no human laborers in his projection — mechanization has made them obsolete... Read more
Crime In SA | Mineral resources dept officials implicated
KZN: Birthplace of the ’construction mafia’
Durban – THE CONSTRUCTION mafia which has terrorised and disrupted 183 construction projects worth billions in KwaZulu-Natal have spread to other parts of South Africa.
Jenni Irish-Qhobosheane, a senior analyst at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC) under subparagraph New kids on the block: The construction mafia, in her research report titled How to silence the guns? Southern Africa’s illegal firearms market, shed light on construction disruptions that have taken place on construction sites in KZN over the last few years... Read more
South Africa’s lawless mafia state enabled by the ANC
South Africans are bombarded daily with news of horrendous crimes committed without consequence; despite the severe impact these crimes have on our lives.
Our news-feeds are rife with stories of how lawlessness reigns in every aspect of our society, and there seems to be absolutely no plan, nor political will, to change the status quo. Sadly, the result is that ‘lesser’ crimes are ignored as society and the media have become more desensitised... Read more
‘Construction Mafia’ cost the economy more than R68 billion
Durban — A national forum has been established to co-ordinate cases relating to extortion syndicates in the construction sector.
This was revealed by Public Works Minister Sihle Zikalala, who was in Durban for a monitoring visit, saying the government had plans to end this worrying practice once and for all.
The forum will look into all affected provinces focusing on extortion-related crimes, attempted murder, common robbery, conspiracy to commit murder, incitement to public violence, contempt and contravention of court orders... Read more
Over 700 arrests for delaying building projects
DURBAN – The effects of the construction mafia on building projects across the country are reaching critical levels.
Over 700 arrests have been made nationwide in a bid to bring this practice to an end.
In a twist of irony, the criminal justice system has not been spared.
The renovation of the Durban High Court is one of the projects that has faced delays, because of threats towards workers by the construction mafia, demanding a piece of the pie.
The Department of Public Works estimates an economic loss of over R68-billion from stalled projects, with this figure predating the Covid-19 pandemic... Read more
Clamping down on crime in the construction industry
Hit on Bosasa liquidator shows South Africa is now a mafia state
The assassination of Cloete Murray and his son is a macabre sign that crime is out of control
The assassination of insolvency practitioner Cloete Murray and his son Thomas on the N1 highway in Midrand over the weekend underlines South Africa’s slide into a mafia state.
Murray had been appointed to a number of high-profile cases in recent years, including the liquidation of services company Bosasa. As a result, he locked horns with a number of people in the ANC, from which he claimed R3.6m. He was also the liquidator of Trillian, the consultancy firm linked to the Gupta brothers, from which Eskom sought R595m… Read more
Construction Mafia | Impact of extortionist at sites
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International crime syndicates in SA
'It's like living in a warzone' - business owner speaks of working near zama zama mine
'It's like living in a warzone' - business owner speaks of working near zama zama mine
Call to investigate links between SAPS and gangs in the Western Cape
Chinese companies won the bulk of Sanral’s cancelled tenders
Construction industry stakeholders express concern about foreign companies being awarded most of the contracts, as well as the tender process.
Concerns have been expressed about foreign companies – specifically Chinese firms – this week being awarded the lion’s share of four contracts valued at R17.4 billion that the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) cancelled earlier this year.
The SA Forum of Civil Engineering Contractors (Safcec) has also expressed concern that the principles of fairness and competitiveness were not met in awarding these contracts.
However, construction industry associations and stakeholders have stressed the need for South Africa construction companies to be competitive against international rivals.
On Thursday Sanral announced that it had this week awarded four of the five previously cancelled tenders following an evaluation process by the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA).
The following project awards have been made:
Mtentu Bridge: R3.428 billion to CCCC MECSA Joint Venture (JV).
R56 Matatiele rehabilitation: R1.057 billion to Down Touch Investments.
Ashburton Interchange: R1.814 billion to Base Major/CSCEC JV.
EB Cloete Interchange Improvements: R4.302 billion to Base Major/CSCEC JV.
The value of each project award is identical to the lowest tender price received before these tenders were cancelled.
Sanral has not yet responded to a Moneyweb request for further details about the joint venture partners and tenderers.
However, it appears that:
CCCC is the China Communications Construction Company Ltd – a majority state-owned, publicly traded, multinational engineering and construction company.
CSCEC is the China State Construction Engineering Corporation, which is regarded as the largest construction company in the world.
Base Major was registered in South Africa in 2007 and founded by Chinese businessman and company director Stephen J Lu.
MECSA is Mota-Engil Construction South Africa: wholly-owned and controlled by 100% black-owned diversified company CN Holdings Company (Pty) Ltd.
Safcec CEO Webster Mfebe said South African contractors participate and win bids across the globe on the basis of the applicable legislation that governs procurement in those countries.
Mfebe said nobody could have any qualms about these Sanral awards as long as the successful bidders met the requirements of the Constitution, which requires that when a organ of state contracts for goods and services, it must do so in accordance with the principles of fairness, equitability, transparency, competitiveness and cost effectiveness.
He said these same requirements are repeated in Section 61 of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). If any of those five procurement pillars in the Constitution are not met, the awards stand to be challenged by whomever has been affected by it, he added.
Mfebe said it took less than three months for contractors to prepare their bids for the cancelled projects after they were re-advertised for only one month.
The principle of competitiveness and fairness cannot on this basis be viewed as having been met because new players would have had only one month to prepare good quality bids, he said.
“Those issues have contaminated the five pillars that are enshrined in the Constitution,” he said.
Meanwhile, Black Business Council in the Built Environment (BBCBE) CEO Gregory Mofokeng said it is a concern that the tender awards have been dominated by international companies, but stressed that the council needs to closely study the bids to determine how many local companies tendered for these opportunities and the pricing of their bids relative to the Chinese companies.
He also stressed the importance of bids from local companies being competitive.
Mofokeng said the awards will not only have a positive impact on employment in South Africa but also support the country’s material manufacturers and suppliers and localisation strategy.
He said the BBCBE would be communicating with Sanral to ensure these Chinese companies did not import all or the bulk of their material for these projects from China.
“From a black business perspective we are also looking forward to seeing what targets apply to these projects and looking closely at to what extent the black players will be supported, because we still have a developmental agenda [in South Africa] whether it’s a local or international player,” he said.
E-toll confusion
The fifth cancelled tender – relating to the Open Road Tolling tender for the Transaction Clearing House operator for e-tolls on the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) – has not yet been awarded.
Record time
Sanral has been applauded for adjudicating and awarding the tenders in record time.
Sanral had however indicated in June 2022 that the anticipation was that the tender awards for the five cancelled projects would be made by September 2022. Construction industry associations and stakeholders had expressed serious doubts that this deadline would be met.
The failure of Sanral to meet this deadline was attributed to requests by the bidders for an extension of time to submit bids.
However, Mfebe believes it is “an unprecedented miracle” that tenders for multi-million rand infrastructure in South Africa have been adjudicated and awarded within a month.
Mofokeng added that the BBCBE too is happy the projects have finally been awarded.
Sanral board chairperson Themba Mhambi expressed his sincere thanks to the DBSA for undertaking the evaluation of the previously cancelled tenders and their adjudication, as well for the speedy manner in which the process was resolved.
Mhambi said Sanral is also deeply grateful to the industry for their patience in re-submitting tenders for these contracts and waiting for the adjudication process to be concluded.
He said there was understandably a concern by the executive when the tenders were cancelled, about the impact it would have on South Africa’s infrastructure development agenda.
“We accordingly undertook to both President Cyril Ramaphosa and Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula that we would do everything possible to ensure that we mitigate the impact on the construction industry and the economy.
“And that meant re-advertising, evaluating and awarding the tenders within four months after they were cancelled.
“We are happy that we have lived up to that commitment and in the process learnt valuable lessons about how to handle tenders with speed to keep the country’s economic development on the boil,” he said.
Mhambi said Sanral will continue to prioritise infrastructure development in driving South Africa’s economic recovery.
He said that while this process has delayed the implementation of critical infrastructure upgrades, it has to be balanced against healthy governance and the need to ensure compliance with all relevant procurement and legal prescripts when Sanral awards any and all tenders going forward.
“Our congratulations go out to the successful bidders, and we look forward to seeing the true impact of these projects in the lives of the road users and communities we serve,” he added.
Source – Moneyweb.co.za
Pretoria FM Interview
Mafia State: How the construction mafia exposed SA's extortion economy
How the construction mafia has exposed South Africa’s extortion economy – and what to do about it
Things are at a precarious point in South Africa where violent extortion has become a justifiable form of pursuing “transformation”.
Given the ailing state of the economy, there is a desperation to boost empowerment through any means necessary. Government procurement is seen as the pot of gold to achieve this.
As the biggest procurer of goods and services, the state has been fashioned to drive transformation but what that has given rise to is an added cost to taxpayers who are already squeezed through inefficiency and corruption in the state.
In this week’s Friday Briefing, we explore the rise of the so-called construction mafia, where various business forums enforce a demand for 30% worth of the value of government tenders to be directed to them or they face threats of violence.
In his piece, columnist Khaya Sithole notes the model of the construction mafia is that in exchange for 30% of the economic value of contracts, companies are offered a sense of protection where they can undertake their work without interruptions.
Alternatively – if one doesn’t comply – the destruction of infrastructure and disruption of operations is the guaranteed outcome.
Sithole argues law enforcement, which ought to stop the rise of the construction mafia, is barely functional, and companies have little recourse as a result.
Senior analyst at Global Initiative Against Transnational Crime Jenni Irish-Qhobosheane writes at the heart of the construction mafia’s success is its capacity to exert violence or the threat thereof to ensure its demands are met.
She argues addressing extortion requires a broader strategy that involves businesses, communities, and different levels of government.
Ayabonga Cawe also weighs in on the matter, arguing the government is not just about “buying stuff”, but an avenue of redress and redistribution.
He makes the point that the phenomenon of protection fee rackets, 30% for “business fora” and extortion is affecting both the public and private sectors alike. And as a result, the government’s BEE procurement regime should not be seen as an added burden to taxpayers.
The CEO of the Small Business Institute, John Dludlu, writes there needs to be regulation of business forums to ensure proper transformation.
Enjoy the read.
Best,
Qaanitah Hunter
Shoshanguve NN1
HEIDELBERG COMPANY STAFF STRIKE
lYNNWOOD SITE MANAGEMENT
LEON SE GAT
Was a weird day at work on Friday. While ensuring that illicit business forums adhere to the law and not extort people, clr Leon Kruyshaar on the projects directly next to me had his project stopped by the same syndicate. The projects are interlinked. The one to provide water and infrastructure to the other. The syndicates extorting companies are a serious threat to job creation and getting infrastructure fixed, building of housing, even replacing much needed waterpipes. In this case the syndicates stopped work, threatened the workers and threatened to burn the vehicles. While we were sorting the syndicates out – a house burned to the ground a few km from there. Neighbours didn’t notice. Thought it was a veld fire. It was an interesting view in the day of a ward councillor. The councillor was rewarded by some members of his community by negative comments and swearing for not doing enough. BTW… the big hole is called “Leon se gat”. It was a water pipe leak. A council worker was told to fix it. He was too lazy(?) to complete the job against the advice of his subordinate worker on site. The next day the water pipe erupted and blew a hole the size of a small apartment building. The syndicates stopped the work on this site and another and threatening to burn vehicles – not assisting to get the job done faster.