The Association of South African Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS) says it welcomes the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa that a special police unit is being set up to deal with “the construction mafia that has been disrupting businesses in the country for years”.

The association says it has made numerous calls since 2019 for greater involvement of the South African Police Service, as the issue affects domestic infrastructure projects, investor confidence and the safety of professionals in the built environment.

“The construction mafia entails gangs who intimidate foremen, project managers and construction bosses by going onto project sites and demanding a stake in the project.

“The result? Construction projects worth at least R25-billion being violently disrupted and halted in South Africa.”

ASAQS VP Newton Baloyi says disruptions in the construction sector are not limited to these mafia groups.

“It usually happens the moment labour and companies from outside the local communities are appointed to projects.

“The local community gets upset, as they feel deprived of opportunities for meaningful economic participation.”

Baloyi believes this can be expected, as many megaprojects are located in an environment where people live in poverty and are unemployed.

He believes that a mindset shift is required to fully address the issue.

“Projects [should be] evaluated and monitored not only on the basis of technical and financials, but also socioeconomic impact. And this happens once clients and built environment professionals realise that projects are actually an opportunity for the deliberate socioeconomic upliftment of communities. Instead of simply ticking the boxes of compliance, we should focus on real impact.”

Baloyi says the first step to meaningful community involvement is to integrate social and economic sustainability into the planning of projects.

“In order for integration to happen, project procurement strategies should proactively identify opportunities for the localisation of project value chains.

“This can be best handled by built environment professionals as part of the project development process.

“It’s critical that a project is developed and marketed in such a way that local communities have a say and a sense of ownership.

“All too frequently, the buck is passed on to the contractor,” says Baloyi.

“But engagement with the community shouldn’t start when the contractor arrives on site. It must come from the developer and his professional team prior to the arrival of the contractor.”

Baloyi adds that project teams should focus beyond simple subcontracting and labour.

“We need to consider other high-impact opportunities for maximum circulation of money in the communities, such as the part localisation of material supplies, manufacturing, assembly, unbundling projects and ringfencing opportunities for the local communities.”

Baloyi says that, once a community has taken project ownership, it becomes easier for members of that community to identify criminal elements.

“They are then personally committed to the project and part of its beneficial elements.”