With only two weeks remaining in the current financial year, the City of Cape Town (CoCT) warns that almost R60-million of the Urban Mobility Directorate’s capital budget may go unspent owing to the activities of extortionists and the construction mafia.

CoCT Urban Mobility MMC Rob Quintas says at least seven major projects have been halted owing to safety concerns, ranging from the construction of new public transport infrastructure, to road reconstruction and stormwater maintenance, primarily in the city’s “most vulnerable communities”.

“Unfortunately, the brazen attempts from these mafia-style extortionists are only intensifying.

“They are holding to ransom the city and our contractors – ultimately, at the expense of service delivery to those who need these services most.

“It is completely and utterly unconscionable.”

Quintas says those threatening the continuation of projects – typically either for a portion of the work or payments – include “sophisticated extortionist syndicates”, as well as “opportunistic thugs”.

“We remain committed to delivering services,” he notes.

“I want to assure these criminals that the city and its contractors will not bow to their ludicrous attempts to syphon public capital into their own pockets.”

Projects that have recently been hamstrung or halted owing to threats, intimidation and murder, include the construction of new MyCiTi bus depots on the corner of Spine road and Mew Way in Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain, as well as the rehabilitation of Delft Main road, from Stellenbosch Arterial to Silversands road, in Delft.

“The contractor withdrew from the site following the fatal shooting of one of their staff members on May 10,” says Quintas.

Other projects include the upgrading of various roads and associated works in Bishop Lavis; a roads resealing and stormwater repairs project in Delft; a roads rehabilitation project in Kalksteenfontein; the construction of the Walter Sisulu / Lindela roundabout in Khayelitsha; and the installation of traffic calming measures and footways, including sidewalk and embayment construction, in Brooklyn.