By Staff Reporter
Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition has strongly supported recent efforts to criminalise the extortion tactics of the construction mafia.
Committee chair Mzwandile Masina expressed his approval of the proposed legal measures that will target those who demanded a 30% share of government contracts without offering any actual work.
“The government allocates 30% of the value of projects to small, medium and micro enterprises with a view to empower them, and those they employ. Unfortunately, this has led to thuggish behaviour with criminals demanding payment and bringing projects to a halt,” Masina said.
The 30% set-aside rule is a policy that aims to help historically disadvantaged individuals, offering them opportunities to grow within the mainstream economy.
However, the policy’s implementation has been marred by criminal actors who force contractors to comply with their demands for a percentage of the contract value, often without contributing to
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