To counter the threat, some have turned to taxi bosses, a group known for their capacity for violent enforcement. What could possibly go wrong?
Police say that on 22 August 2022, just before midnight, a municipal employee and associate of Molefe named Victor Cele was shot dead near Port Shepstone. In the early hours of the following morning, Buthelezi was murdered, as was Hlonipo Nzimande, another childhood friend. Police say the same gun was used in these three killings; nearly three weeks later it was used to kill Molefe.
It is testimony to the ambivalent nature of the relationship that the contract itself stipulates that the parties must keep its existence and terms strictly secret, whereas, three months later, Umgeni Water issued a press release calling the agreement “anAccording to Umgeni Water, the agreement meant affiliates of the BBF “could potentially become participants in Umgeni Water’s enterprise development programmes”, but also that disruptions that Umgeni had previously endured might be avoided.
Construction mafias emerged in Durban around 2014 and have since invaded building sites around the country. They became business forums, sprouting up across the land, and are constantly morphing and expanding into other economic sectors. As Irish-Qhobosheane noted in her report: “Economically excluded and depressed communities not only provide fertile ground for recruitment into mafia-type organisations like the construction mafia, but also the conditions to ‘justify’ extortion activities from local business forums.”: “The central fact of contemporary South African politics is the emergence within it of a nationwide and mass-based patronage system.
Also unsurprising is that Delangokubona has been publicly connected to Zuma and to one of his key RET allies, former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede.by Delangokubona at an event at Durban’s Olive Convention Centre. A year later at the same venue, the eThekwini municipality sponsored an RET gathering that was attended by numerous business forums, including Delangokubona.
While President Cyril Ramaphosa has described construction mafia activity as “radical economic robbery”, the ANC has been repeatedly criticised for negotiating with mafias. He said that where councillors used to be the gatekeepers to City work and used that knowledge to benefit themselves, taxi bosses and other enforcers had stepped in, bringing their muscle into ANC branch meetings because they saw the revenue potential.
It was a statutory intervention to force public projects to give work to local black-owned businesses and it resulted in a host of legal challenges around definitions of local, including one that went all the way to the Constitutional Court, which in February 2022 overturned the regulations on the basis that the act conferred the power to set preferential procurement policy on organs of state, not on the minister.
Durban attorney Peter Barnard has dealt with hundreds of court interdicts against forums, which he likened to a Hydra, the multi-headed serpent of Greek mythology. You dealt with one, but it simply sprouted a host more. These are often challenged legally on the basis of whether they are fair and reasonable. Broadly, it is a moot point, because the notion of 30% now seems entrenched as the norm.Barnard said National Treasury was supposed to maintain a database of approved contractors that was meant to be consulted in the awarding of state work, but this was reportedly not up to date and was ignored.
“In another instance, a residential estate put out a security contract and stipulated that whichever company won the tender had to accommodate the forums. About six companies bid and the winning company had to deal with ongoing threats. Do you have to hire thugs to keep other thugs away?”also makes the point that the construction mafia, having grown using AK-47 firepower, “is slowly moving towards respectability as the industry embraces business forums in local sub-contracting”.
While the organisation’s origins are dubious at best and Zondi, Mnyandu and other BBF pioneers have spoken publicly about the use of violence and criminal links to further their cause, Doko is part of the BBF’s energetic drive to clean up its public image and attract members.Doko said he joined BFF because of its “unapologetic” approach to black empowerment, which the government was not doing enough to advance.
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