The practice of protesting or raiding in acts of violence and intimidation at construction sites has been raised at cabinet level according to Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi.

Business forums or the so-called “construction Mafia” first started invading construction sites in KwaZulu-Natal, with this practice spreading to other provinces. Nxesi explained that often these protests were linked to people who had lost tenders in their bidding processes and had therefore started hiring people to stage protests at construction sites.

“This issue was of grave concern to the government and the industry because it took away bread from the tables of the very people who build the economy and our industry, the contractors while also robbing taxpayers of desperately needed social and economic development by inflating the cost of infrastructure,” Nxesi said.

He concluded by saying government recognises the problem and believes there is no place for criminality in the industry.