The country’s largest representative body of construction companies and affiliated businesses has called for the industry to be declared an essential service during the lockdown in order to prevent the loss of up to 108,000 jobs and the cancellation of contracts.

SA’s construction industry has been battling many challenges over the past decade, including a lack of government infrastructure projects, rising electricity costs, non-payment by the government and other state entities, and the hijacking of construction sites by a “construction mafia”, which includes members of the public who demand cuts of contracts and threaten violence if they are not rewarded...

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