Durban — KwaZulu-Natal Transport and Human Settlements MEC Siboniso Duma has issued a stern warning to would-be criminal syndicates who would attempt to block the newly launched R1 billion road construction project in the uMdoni Local Municipality.
After launching the project on Tuesday, Duma said, “We have made a firm undertaking that we will act firmly against criminal syndicates trying to stop or interfere with the construction work around the rehabilitation of road P22/1 in Umdoni Local Municipality.”
KZN was among the provinces that have witnessed a spike in the so-called construction mafias, which targeted government and private projects in return for a percentage of the work allocated to the contractors.
Duma said: “Weeks ago, we met with the Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu and Lt-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, and we intensified all efforts to ensure that all road construction projects benefit local communities without interference.”
He added: “We offer to act very firmly, as we do not want the prolonged construction of roads, as communities cannot wait any longer for what belongs to them.”
Duma said his department has set aside R215 million to ensure that about 47 local entrepreneurs in the road construction sector benefit from the R1 billion budget for the project.
More than 150 people would be employed from the local community, he said.
“As Transport and Human Settlements, we have a budget exceeding R16 billion, as we presented last week. We are re-engineering our approach to ensure that local emerging entrepreneurs are given opportunities during the rollout of infrastructure,” said Duma.
Duma, who was deployed as MEC of Transport and Human Settlements in June by Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli, said his department would spend R8.7 billion on transport infrastructure in the 2024/25 financial year.
Of this, R3.7 billion would be channelled into the construction of new infrastructure projects, which include roads and bridges.
Over R4 billion was set aside for the road network, Duma announced.
“In addition, over R58 million will go into infrastructure planning and design, with over R920 million being allocated to support programmes within transport infrastructure,” he said.
Inkosi Robert Shinga, the KZN provincial Chairperson for the House of Traditional and Khoi-San leaders, welcomed the development, saying it would invigorate the economy on the south coast.
“This project will boost the economy of Umdoni as well as other surrounding areas. We urge the residents to respect the project by ensuring that no one is allowed to disrupt this project," said Inkosi Shinga.
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