Mafias have vanished from its construction projects: Mcpherson

For years, the construction mafia became one of South Africa's most feared obstacles to infrastructure development, bringing billion-rand projects to a standstill through intimidation, extortion and violence.

Now the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure says that, on projects under its own management, the phenomenon has effectively disappeared.

In a striking written reply to Parliament, Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson disclosed that the Department "has not recorded any new incidents of site disruptions by the construction mafia on projects under its management" during the past three financial years.

If accurate, the admission marks a dramatic departure from years in which construction-site disruptions dominated headlines, prompted national summits and triggered repeated warnings from government, business and law enforcement.

The disclosure came in response to a parliamentary question from Freedom Front Plus MP, Philippus Adriaan Van Staden, who asked how many departmental projects had been affected by construction mafias over the past three financial years, what the financial impact had been and what interventions had been implemented to protect public infrastructure.

The Minister's answer was unequivocal.

"For the past three financial years, the department has not recorded any new incidents of site disruptions by the construction mafia on projects under its management."

That answer carried a second implication. Asked about the financial cost of such disruptions, the Minister replied:

"As responded on paragraph (a) above there are no financial implication related to such projects."

Rather than portraying the apparent absence of disruptions as a matter of luck, the Department credited what it described as a comprehensive national strategy designed to remove the conditions that allow criminal groups to infiltrate public construction projects.

At the centre of that strategy is the Integrated Social Facilitation Framework (ISFF), which the Department describes as

"a binding national policy instrument designed to institutionalise community engagement and social risk management across all public infrastructure projects."

According to the reply, the framework seeks to prevent unrest before construction even begins.

The Minister said the ISFF:

"Mandates early, structured community engagement before project commencement, ensuring that all legitimate community role-players are informed of the project, its context, and expected impact, thereby preventing the spread of misinformation."

To reduce opportunities for intimidation, the Department said that it has introduced formal Project Steering Committees with clear terms of reference. It siad that it now embeds Contract Participation Goals (CPGs) directly into tender documents.

According to the Minister, those measures create:

"a transparent, structured pathway for legitimate local SMMEs and labour to participate in projects, thereby addressing the economic exclusion that disruptors exploit."

According to the Department, the framework contains explicit security measures. Its implementation guide includes:

"a Memorandum of Understanding for Site Security and Anti-Extortion Protocol... establishing zero-tolerance zones, rapid response protocols with SAPS, and evidence collection standards to support prosecution."

Macpherson said the framework was highlighted during the National Construction Summit on Site Disruptions held in Durban in November 2024, before being gazetted for public comment on 2 June 2025. According to the Minister, the framework has since been endorsed by NEDLAC, the Presidency's socio-economic impact assessment process, the ESIEID Technical Clearing House, the Directors-General Cluster and the Ministers Cluster, and is now being prepared for Cabinet.

He revealed that the Department is finalising a detailed implementation guide with National Treasury's Infrastructure Technical Assistance Facility.

The guide, the Minister said, will provide:

"standardised templates, step-by-step guidance, and case studies from South African projects to ensure practitioners have the tools necessary to embed inclusive consultations from project inception through to final acceptance."

Consultations are still under way, with publication expected this month.

The Department also says it now works proactively with the South African Police Service before projects even begin.

According to the Minister:

"The department of public works and infrastructure proactively and regularly engages with the South African Police Service to map out areas where new projects are planned to ensure that there are interventions done early on to identify emerging construction mafia activities."

He added that criminal prosecutions have also played a role.

"During the peak of construction mafia disruptions, a number of criminal cases were registered that remain in progress. The prosecution of instigators has assisted in the reduction of disruptions,"

he said.

The Department's reply presents a confident picture of a problem it believes is now under control, at least on projects directly under its management.

Whether the Department's record reflects a broader national decline in construction, related extortion, or is confined to the projects it oversees, is likely to remain a subject of public and parliamentary scrutiny.