“As a result of this, we have seen a decline in international investment in construction in South Africa and a mass exodus of persons with the jobs skills needed in the industry, particularly that of civil engineers,” he said.The Citizen“These mafia-like individuals would arrive on your construction site, armed but not pointing a firearm, and demand to speak to the project manager. They would then start negotiating, trying attain 50% of the contract work for themselves.
As such, international investors have been deterred by the political situation and have pulled back investments. “This is really unfortunate, as the construction industry is the most employment-intensive sector in the economy. But as a result of the lack on investment, we are seeing employment levels are lagging, affecting the overall GDP,” he said.