Seven major road upgrades in Cape Town stopped by mafias

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14-07-2023
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Cbn
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AT least seven major transport infrastructure projects in the City of Cape Town to the tune of R58.6 million, ranging from the construction of new public transport infrastructure to road and stormwater maintenance, are currently being held up or have completely stopped due to threats and intimidation by “mafia-style extortionists,” said the City’s mayoral committee member for Urban Mobility, Rob Quintas.

Quintas said these groups are holding the City ransom with “threats, intimidation, and tragically, outright murder” of the contractors on site projects in an attempt to “siphon public capital into their own pockets.”

This comes at the expense of the citizens living in the areas, which primarily include Cape Town’s “most vulnerable communities” such as Delft, Khayelitsha, and Mitchells Plain, he said.

Interrupted projects

Large jobs on behalf of Cape Town’s mobility department that have recently been hamstrung or fully ground to a halt due to these nefarious actors include the following:

• Delft – Roads resealing and stormwater repairs project
• Bishop Lavis – Upgrading of various roads and associated works
• Khayelitsha – Walter Sisulu / Lindela roundabout with R600,000 at risk in unspent capital budget
• Kalksteenfontein – Roads rehabilitation project with R16.9 million at risk in unspent capital budget
• Delft – Rehabilitation of Delft Main Road, from Stellenbosch Arterial to Silversands Road with R13.5 million at risk in unspent capital budget
• Brooklyn – Installation of traffic calming measures and footways, including sidewalk and embayment construction with R195,000 at risk in unspent capital budget
• Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain – Construction of new MyCiTi depots on the corner of Spine Road and Mew Way with R27.4 million at risk in unspent capital budget

“We naturally have targets for our capital expenditure, and it is disappointing to be forcibly prevented from meeting those targets, but we do not negotiate with extortionists and there is simply no Rand value for human life,” said Quintas.

“It is utterly dismaying to see the rampant and relentless criminal interference with projects that are designed to improve and protect the lives of ordinary, honest residents.”