Pretoria - Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Sihle Zikalala has vowed to act harshly against “construction mafia” who are sabotaging the delivery of infrastructure.
Zikalala gave the assurance when he outlined his infrastructure plan yesterday and announced major construction projects throughout the country.
Zikalala said his office would be meeting the Economic Sabotage Unit set up within the police to deal with economic crimes including the rising phenomena of “construction mafia”, who invade, intimidate and disrupt delivery of projects on the ground.
“We reiterate that everyone is allowed to partake in economic activity in the country, but this must be done in a legal and orderly fashion.
“We will continue to engage communities on how they can benefit from construction projects and the entire value chain. Equally, we will mobilise communities to work with law enforcement to fight corruption, crime and the construction mafia who are sabotaging the delivery of infrastructure and hampering job creation,” he said.
Announcing his infrastructure plan, Zikalala said a total of 88 Strategic Infrastructure Projects had been gazetted by the government.
“We wish to report that through Infrastructure South Africa, we have amassed a pipeline of green hydrogen projects with a value of over R300 billion. This project pipeline is undergoing project preparation support to make it ready for implementation.
“Among these projects, is the Boegoebaai Green Hydrogen in the Northern Cape. The project will support the Boegoebaai Port and Rail Programme.”
He said the hydrogen project had a potential to create an additional 35 000 work opportunities.
Zikalala said the department had gazetted 62 projects as Strategic Integrated Projects in July 2020 and a further 26 for December this year.
A number of these projects were complete, including road projects in KZN, the Free State and Limpopo. Housing projects in Gauteng and other projects across the country are in construction and procurement phases.
Some of these are: Phase 2 of the Welisizwe Rural Bridges programme will commence this month and there are plans to build 96 bridges and three per quarter to enable rural communities in the Eastern Cape, KZN, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Free State and North West to safely access schools, workplaces and public amenities and R3.8bn has been allocated for the programme over the medium term.
“The construction of enabling bulk infrastructure, such as roads and water components for the Lufhereng Mixed-Use Development in Gauteng, begins in June. It will support the development of 31 000 mixed housing units.”
Access roads for the Umzimvubu Water Project in the Eastern Cape are nearing completion. The construction of the Ntabelanga Dam, which is a part of this project, will begin later this year.
In the Western Cape, site establishment for the Clanwilliam Dam raising project was completed. All surface works and 15% of all concrete works would be completed by the end of this year.
Zikalala said: “The total value of projects completed is R21.4bn – mainly roads and human settlement projects. The total value of projects currently in construction is R 313.5bn.
“Projects in procurement are standing at R295.2bn.
“Our programmes must contribute in reversing spatial exclusion and lead to the empowerment of women, people living with disabilities and youth-owned companies in the property and infrastructure sector.
“The message that we have sent to the department and all our stakeholders is that we must usher in a new era of delivering projects on time, within budget and our projects must be of good quality,” Zikalala said.
Pretoria News