Engineering sector alarmed by spike in KZN 'construction mafias'

"It's probably been around for the last eight years. They will arrive on the site and put a bullet on the table and say this bullet is worth more than you. This costs R7 or R14 and this is worth more than what your list is and then start making their demands," says Lindie Fourie, who is with the bargaining council for the civil engineering industry. 

She says these groups are driven by extortion. 

They enter construction sites and make pay protection demands, threatening to disrupt or sabotage projects if they don't get what they want. 

Fourie says their presence is crippling the local industry. 

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"I think if we talk about how rife it is in KZN - quite rife as you saw in the one article that was published, one of the contractors referred to being explosive." 

She says the unfortunate trend has hampered efforts to rebuild parts of the province following last year's unrest and the April floods. 

"There was a report published recently where they compared the extortion level that we are experiencing in South Africa, especially in KZN to that being systemic extortion. 

"Everybody knows what they are capable of - either you comply and try and work with them or you know what the consequences will be, which I feel is quite serious."