Billions of rand worth of government projects are on hold because of interference from the so-called construction mafia, according to the president’s head of investment infrastructure team, Kgosientso Ramokgopa.

“Tens of billions of projects were stalled as a result of this interference,” Ramakgopa said when speaking to eNCA.

He stated the government has a theory there are two parts to the “construction mafia”.

The first is made up of genuine entrepreneurs and the second is a criminal syndicated.

“We are establishing a unit that we specifically deal with those whose intention is to hijack projects. They don’t add any value, they just arrive at the site and demand 30 percent of the project in cash,” he explained.

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