South African Minister Urges Action Against Procurement Abuse in Construction

Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson, has called for immediate action to stop criminal syndicates from abusing the local procurement rule in the construction industry. Speaking at the national construction summit in Durban, Macpherson condemned the misuse of the 30-percent local procurement rule, as syndicates demand payments from contractors without performing any work. He called for a review of the rule to protect legitimate businesses, instead of facilitating extortion and corruption: