Media Briefing Address: Outcomes of MINMEC meeting in Polokwane, Limpopo, Minister of Public Works & Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson, The Capital Empire Sandton
Department of Public Works Director General, Sifiso Mdakane
The Acting Head of Infrastructure South Africa, Mameetse Masemola
Construction Industry Development Board CEO, Bongani Dladla
Government officials joining us here today,
Members of the media,
Ladies and gentlemen,
This morning, we are here to brief South Africans on the outcomes of yesterday's first quarter meeting in 2025 held in Polokwane, Limpopo of the MINMEC for Public Works and Infrastructure which is held between Minister Public Works and the nine Provincial Members of the Executive Council (MECs) for Public Works from across the country.
At our meeting yesterday, we reiterated and recommitted to present the country with clear and implementable plans on how we aim to turn South Africa into a construction site, and use public assets for the public good.
As I said in my opening remarks to MECs during our meeting yesterday, South Africans have waited long enough to see the fruits of the work we are doing.
Next Thursday, it will be exactly nine months since I was appointed to office, with many MECs being appointed shortly afterwards.
And while it may have taken time for some to settle into new roles, it is now time to deliver real results to the communities we serve.
It is clear that over the past few months we have started the difficult work of reshaping public works and infrastructure to play a leading role in South Africa’s development, and - ultimately, create jobs.
Growth and jobs remain our number one priority and daily obsession.
This week, the latest Afrimat Construction Index showed that during the final three months of 2024, activity in South Africa’s construction industry improved for a third consecutive Quarter.
This shows, beyond any doubt, that we are heading in the right direction and validates the difficult but necessary decisions we have taken alongside the structural reforms we have introduced.
But, we also know that it is simply not enough.
South Africans can’t wait any longer.
For too long, our communities have been let down by broken promises of vast infrastructure investment, construction projects in their communities, and ultimately the creation of construction jobs.
This is why it is imperative that we shift from merely talking about the programmes we want to implement, and actually start to implement them.
We therefore collectively carry the responsibility to show South Africans that we are different.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In this regard, the gathering between myself as the Minister, MECs and senior government officials we held yesterday - collectively known as MINMEC - was not another talkshop, but has moved us towards action and rapid implementation.
The meeting we held yesterday followed five months after the first Public Works & Infrastructure MINMEC we held for the seventh Administration in Cape Town last year.
And in the months since our last meeting, a lot has changed in South Africa’s construction sector, and the approach to infrastructure.
But, despite the noise from the outside, we remain focused on the vision to turn the Public Works & Infrastructure sector into the economic engine of South Africa.
This will be achieved through increased infrastructure investment, which will turn South Africa into a construction site, and, most importantly, create jobs.
Because,, we all know that infrastructure investment remains one of the most powerful tools to stimulate economic growth and to create employment.
The announcements we are therefore making today are all in line with that overarching goal of turning South Africa into a country under construction.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Firstly, one of the key updates we received at our MINMEC yesterday was the report from our National Summit on Crime Free Construction site and the work it has achieved in reducing Construction Stoppages by criminal syndicates, better known as the Construction Mafia.
More than 100 days have passed since we held the Summit in November last year, where the historic Durban Declaration was signed between the South African Police Service, National Treasury and Department of Public Works & Infrastructure.
It was the first time that the South African government convened with different stakeholders to develop a comprehensive joint approach to bring an end to these disruptions, which chase away investment, and delay construction projects.
Since then, we have made remarkable progress to restore the rule of law at construction sites and bring an end to extortion by criminal elements.
The summit has shown to be a turning point in our fight against the construction mafia.
The latest data obtained from the South African Police Service shows that major progress has been achieved through intensified intelligence gathering, data tracking and law enforcement operations.
This includes the deployment of Economic Infrastructure Task Teams to known construction mafia hotspots, which ensured that swift arrests take place, and South African infrastructure is protected.
Since we held the Construction Summit in November last year, a total of 745 construction-related extortion cases have been reported.
Importantly, we have seen 240 arrests made related to these cases.
No longer can you disrupt our sites without consequences.
Gauteng remains the highest contributor, with 241 cases reported with 81 arrests, followed by the Western Cape with 198 reported cases and 73 arrests.
KwaZulu-Natal is third with 102 cases and 16 arrests, and the Eastern Cape fourth with 86 cases and 6 arrests.
Collectively, these four provinces account for 84% of all construction mafia extortion cases.
The anonymous Extortion Hotline, established through the Durban Declaration at the summit, has received 779 reports, leading to 30 cases being referred to provincial authorities for immediate intervention.
This is major breakthrough in our fight against criminals and gangsters who think they can threaten our projects with impunity.
The public is no longer scared of them and will provide us with information in order to reclaim their infrastructure projects, which serve their communities.
I want to thank the South African Police Service and the Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu, for the leading role they have played in helping to turn the tide against the construction mafia.
The partnership we have built is turning the tide on those who seek to inflict economic terrorism on our country.
From the Department of Public Works & Infrastructure side, our entity, Construction Industry Development Board, or CIDB, has initiated collaboration with the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority, or PSIRA, to address extortionists who pose as security firms.
This initiative will ensure that there is stricter monitoring and regulatory enforcement by PSIRA of security companies operating within the sector.
Furthermore, our engagement with the National Treasury has started to see a reform of the regulations under the Public Procurement Act, which will close the loopholes used by the construction mafia to demand 30% of infrastructure project procurement.
It remains my firm belief that the 30% local procurement rule, which was introduced by the National Treasury under former President Jacob Zuma, has been used by criminal syndicates to extort contractors.
If we want to bring an end to these criminal syndicates at infrastructure projects, we will have to remove the incentives which these criminal syndicates use to operate.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In addition to the serious challenges faced from criminal elements, MINMEC also had hard and difficult conversations about the role our departments play in rewarding impunity.
We are all well aware of the often adverse audit findings we face, but during our discussions, we endorsed a number of measures to remedy the situation.
It is therefore imperative that we restore trust and credibility to our departments in order for us to drive further investment and participation.
Following a presentation by the Auditor General of South Africa at MINMEC, the slow pace of delisting of non-performing or corruption-accused suppliers was revealed.
Since 2002, only one company has been delisted from supplying to the Department.
This is simply unacceptable and needs to be urgently addressed if we want to reverse the culture of impunity.
As a department, we have already started working with the Auditor General to address the performance of our auditing processes.
This will ensure that public money is spent on its intended outcomes and corruption is met with strict consequence management.
Furthermore. we have started working to reform our blacklisting policy which will ensure that contractors who underperform or engage in unethical practices will no longer have the privilege of working on public projects.
We have tasked the CIDB to urgently get ahead of underperforming contractors and blacklist them without delay, and to ensure that they are unable to gain any tenders from any sphere or entity of the State.
Within the months ahead, the pace at which companies are delisted should be rapidly increased, with over 40 companies facing blacklisting.
This should be encouraging to hear for all South Africans who care how public funds are spent.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The third element discussed at MINMEC was the reform process currently underway at the Expanded Public Works Programme, or EPWP.
Over the past nine months, during the EPWP Listening Tours and Engagements we have held nationwide, we have heard first-hand how the programme plays an essential role in addressing acute poverty in many communities.
However, at the same time, we have listened to painful testimonies of how councillors or officials have abused their position of power in the programme, often handing over job opportunities to friends and family, or using it as a form of political patronage.
This must come to an end.
During MINMEC yesterday, we discussed how the programme can be reformed to remove the possibility of abuse, and ensure that it benefits the communities it is intended to serve.
In this regard, we specifically discussed improving the coordination between MECs in provinces to improve oversight and accountability, as often different MECs are responsible for different elements of the programme.
It was also universally agreed that the EPWP should be reformed to ensure that it becomes a skill-based program, ensuring that it places participants on a path towards permanent employment.
My vision remains that moving forward, the programme needs to partner with the private sector in order to truly empower participants with skills, experience and job opportunities.
As I’ve mentioned before, the best days of the EPWP lie ahead of it, and I look forward to reforming the program in the best interest of all South Africans.
Ladies and gentlemen,
MINMEC was also presented with a presentation from the Property Management Trading Entity (PMTE) and the work underway to reform the entity into a property asset manager of the state.
We have previously announced the release of 31 state properties for requests for proposals from the public and private sectors, which is set to attract over R10 billion in investment and create close to 165,000 job opportunities.
This will ensure that previously abandoned or neglected Public Works & Infrastructure properties will be used to drive economic and job growth in their communities.
In the next phase of the programme, we also hope to release the small harbours owned by the Department of Public Works & Infrastructure for requests for development.
This will ensure that small harbours such as Hout Bay and Saldanha Bay can attract additional tourism investment.
In this regard, we believe we will be able to develop these small harbours in a similar fashion to the V&A Waterfront.
Work is now also underway to establish a Special Projects Unit within the department.
This unit will specifically be used to address failed or stalled construction projects in the Department.
With the Special Projects Unit, which will be led by the Deputy Director General for Construction Project Management and will provide my office with fortnightly progress reports, we hope to address projects such as the stalled Sarah Baartman Centre for Remembrance in the Eastern Cape.
The Sarah Baartman Centre of Remembrance Project in Hankey has been classified as one of the 10 failed priority projects by the Department of Public Works & Infrastructure, and is an indictment on the Department.
Over a decade, three contractors have attempted to complete the centre, yet it remains wholly incomplete.
Furthermore, we are hoping to expedite the construction of similar failed projects by making use of the trusted panel of contractors, which I announced in my address to the National Assembly last year.
This will help prevent further procurement delays following the Sarah Baartman Centre of Remembrance contractor’s notice of default in August last year.
We are hoping provincial departments will soon replicate the work we are doing
Ladies and gentlemen,
As you can see, the Public Works & Infrastructure sector is gaining critical momentum to play an important role towards South Africa’s development.
I have no doubt that if the interventions mentioned above are implemented, they will help turn South Africa into a construction site and use public assets for the public good.
It is imperative that we now turn these plans into implementable actions which we will take in the weeks and months ahead.
Over the past nine months, we have set the Department of Public Works & Infrastructure on a reinvigorated path to become the economic engine South Africa needs.
The MINMEC also reflected on the strides we are making on Infrastructure through Infrastructure South Africa, or ISA.
The work that ISA has been doing to ensure that projects are brought to the market is something that we are very pleased with.
The conclusion of the first bid window for project preparation valued at R180 million attracted 220 bids valued at R1.23 trillion.
It is thus very clear that South Africa does not have an infrastructure pipeline problem.
At the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium on the 26th of May 2025, we look forward to announcing the winning bids for this window.
The MINMEC also contemplated the problem of municipal infrastructure and what can be done about it, especially in light of the AG’s presentation, which highlighted the high failure rates of infrastructure maintenance and the ability to complete projects by municipalities.
It was noted and welcomed by MINEC the work that ISA is doing to assist municipalities to prepare and package infrastructure projects.
The pilot project ISA is doing in four municipalities through its “adopt-a-municipality” program, which will see ISA playing a greater role in planning, execution and delivery of projects in these test cases.
Ladies and gentlemen,
All of the work we are achieving is not possible without the support and dedication of our senior management.
In this regard, I want to thank the Director General, Sifiso Mdakane, for the invaluable support he has shown me, Acting Head of ISA, Mameetse Masemola, for helping chart a new era of Infrastructure in South Africa, and the CEO of CIDB, Bongani Dladla, for helping to reform the industry.
They all join me here today.
By working together, we started the work of building a better South Africa for all those who live in it.
And, I look forward to expediting our work to ensure that communities can feel the fruits of our labour.
Next week, on Tuesday, we look forward to hosting our inaugural Public Works and Infrastructure Summit in Gauteng, to further unpack some of our plans to improve infrastructure delivery.
As mentioned before, despite the noise, despite the false allegations and those who attempt to sabotage, those who engage in corruption and enrich their own pockets, we remain fully focused on our vision to build a revitalised Public Works & Infrastructure sector.
I am encouraged by the Premier of Limpopo, Dr. Phophi Ramathuba, who opened our MINMEC yesterday when she reflected on the immense work we have been able to achieve in such a short space of time.
She mentioned how it was the Department of Public Works & Infrastructure that was able to unlock economic opportunities for her province.
This feedback is proof that we are a department that can get things done and done quickly.
We will not be distracted by those who seek to see us fail, as we do not work to further their interest.
Because we work to further the interests of the residents in the villages of Dikgerekgere in Limpopo, whom we visited yesterday, and indeed for all South Africans.
We will always choose to serve the people of the country over those with special and vested interests.
We are in the business of joining hands to build a better country and a better future.
Let us therefore, today, recommit to building South Africa.
Thank you.
Enquiries
James de Villiers
Ministry of DPWI Spokesperson
Cell: 082 766 0276
