The Portfolio Committee on Transport has raised concerns over the impact of construction mafias on road construction and maintenance projects in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).
The committee’s week-long oversight programme in the province began with visits to roads around Msunduzi Local Municipality. The programme started with the Integrated Public Transport Network System (IPTNS) programme that the National Department of Transport indicated would be discontinued.
The committee heard that the spending on and implementation of road construction projects is lagging in some cases, but other projects are progressing well.
The committee Chairperson, Mr Donald Selamolela, said the committee took a decision to follow the spending on the Provincial Road Maintenance Grant. He said: “Province had not been doing well on spending on this grant, and we have taken a decision, as the seventh administration portfolio committee, to include the grant on our oversights.”
Committee member Mr Makhashule Gana said the report provided to the committee by the provincial department of transport lacked detail. “We want clarity on how the damage roads during the recent floods are being repaired and maintained. If they are not being repaired, what would it require to get the roads back functional state?” he asked.
“We know, for example, that there are contestations in KZN on the ground when it comes to construction projects and the mafias. These fights will lead to some killings in building projects and the situation may be worse since we are approaching the local government elections.”
Mr Gana said the committee was not getting a sense of the challenges posed by extortion, for example, which may have contributed to some of the planned projects not being delivered on time.
Meanwhile, committee member Mr Moshome Motubatse asked about the selection criteria for maintenance projects. “Does the selection align to traffic volumes and economic activity? Are the roads receiving this funding on repeat for maintenance as a result of poor workmanship and what are the consequences to the companies that fail?” he queried. Mr Motubase also wondered whether the department has capacity to monitor and measure whether funding spent on maintenance improves the road lifespan and safety of citizens.
The committee also asked questions about maintenance backlogs, consequence management for non-performance, and whether the province is the implementing agent for these projects.
Provincial Deputy Director-General for Transportation Services, Ms Fikile Sithole, told the committee that the province has a serious challenge with demands from various groups for work and compensation, which have led to work stopping on some projects and the involvement of the police.
“We have challenges in the province of projects not completed on time and within budget, and sometimes they are not completed at all, leading to projects being abandoned,” Ms Sithole explained. “We lack skills for project management. But we have a new structure that is intended to improve capacity in project management.”
Meanwhile, the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) has expressed an interest in taking over the management of some roads in the Eastern Cape.
The committee will now move to eThekwini Metro for the remainder of the week.
Sibongile Maputi
28 January 2026
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