BRICS deals threaten future of SA’s Construction Industry

• SANRAL mega-tenders raise suspicions of bias toward Chinese firms despite disqualifications.
• Local contractors bound by strict rules while foreign firms enjoy loopholes.
• Job creation promises undermined as foreign labour and consultants take over.

Local Industry under siege

South Africa’s construction industry has been battling crisis long before BRICS came into play. Escalating material costs, rising interest rates, declining private investment, and policy paralysis have all battered the sector. Thousands of jobs have been lost, skilled professionals have emigrated, and many once-mighty firms have collapsed.

Into this vacuum emerged the construction mafia. Born from frustration and desperation in communities locked out of economic opportunity, these groups began extorting companies, demanding a slice of contracts or control of local subcontracting. Initially framed as a demand for “economic inclusion,” their tactics - intimidation, site invasions, and outright violence, have stalled projects worth billions.

Instead of being addressed by government with decisive reform and enforcement, this crisis has pushed many investors and local contractors to the brink. The result: South Africa now lacks the depth of players once capable of handling mega-projects, leaving space for foreign firms to step in.

The Western Cape Property Development Forum (WCPDF), representing the full property and construction value chain, has warned government that local players are being systematically undermined.
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Chairperson Deon van Zyl asks bluntly: “Will South Africa’s construction industry be the sacrificial lamb to multi-billion rand infrastructure investments from abroad?”

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Red Flags around SANRAL Tenders

‍The Western Cape Property Development Forum (WCPDF) warns that mega-project procurement is sliding toward a pattern that sidelines locals:

• Contracts like the Ashburton Interchange (KZN) and Mtentu Bridge (Eastern Cape) were eventually awarded to Chinese firms, despite those same companies being disqualified earlier in the process.
• The R6.5bn Huguenot Tunnel upgrade tender displayed multiple red flags: rushed advertising during the December shutdown, compulsory meetings set during recess, and 18 addendums that reshaped the scope of the project while leaving contractors little time to prepare.

Most concerning: foreign bidders were allowed to simply be “capable of being registered” with South Africa’s regulatory bodies, while local firms had to meet full CIDB and BCCEI compliance upfront. This uneven playing field fuels suspicion that tenders are being written with foreign winners already in mind.
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Van Zyl adds: “Minister Macpherson promised South Africa would become a construction site, but for whose benefit, South Africans, or foreign firms bringing their own people?”

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Local jobs and skills at risk

‍The broader risk is the hollowing out of local capacity. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), whose second-largest membership comes from construction, has warned that Chinese companies are gaming the system by registering as South African entities while importing their own engineers and labour. This is being accelerated by BRICS-aligned visa fast-tracking for “critical skills” a category left dangerously vague.

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NUM Secretary-General Mpho Phakedi put it bluntly: “We are concerned about an emerging trend of Chinese construction companies… they are not foreign on paper, but they bring their own labour and professionals.”

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The irony? South Africa has the expertise. From building some of the world’s deepest mines to past bids on the Huguenot Tunnel itself, local firms have proven capability. Yet unless tender rules are enforced fairly, these skills will remain sidelined while South Africans watch foreign workers take up the jobs meant to revive the economy.

The WCPDF’s Role

‍Founded in 2008, the Western Cape Property Development Forum (WCPDF) is a non-profit body representing the province’s development and construction industry. Its mission is to lobby government, flag policy failures, and defend the role of property and infrastructure in creating jobs and driving growth.

By challenging SANRAL’s tender practices and warning of the BRICS effect, WCPDF is fighting to ensure that South Africans, not foreign firms, remain at the centre of building their country.

The hard truth: The construction mafia was born from exclusion; now, BRICS-linked deals risk cementing a new era of exclusion, this time of an entire industry.

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