The Building Industry Bargaining Council (BIBC), a platform where employers and trade unions negotiate and agree on terms and conditions of employment, says the government’s blacklisting of 52 construction companies for poor performance, fraud and contractual failures exposed a “systemic culture of noncompliance” in South Africa’s building sector.
In March, public works & infrastructure minister Dean Macpherson announced that the Construction Industry Development Board had blacklisted a further 12 contractors since the start of 2026 for nonperformance.
“This brings the total to 52 contractors who have been barred from doing business with the state. Between 2002 and 2024, only two contractors were blacklisted. That era of inaction is over,” Macpherson said at the time.
The South African construction sector contributes about 2%-3% to the national GDP and employs about 1.3-million people. Despite its boom before the 2010 Fifa World Cup, the sector has been in decline in recent years, with a number of companies closing.
“What we are seeing is a pattern where noncompliance in one area is almost always mirrored across others. It is rarely isolated to noncompliance with the BIBC only,” said Danie Hattingh, spokesperson for business at the BIBC.
The BIBC said it identified 68 construction-related companies linked to the blacklist. Of these, only 12 were registered with the BIBC, with all 12 noncompliant at the time of assessment.
“This directly supports our contention that noncompliance with one regulation strongly indicates noncompliance everywhere else. Whether it is labour obligations, tax compliance, or contractual delivery, the same patterns repeat,” Hattingh said.
The implications were serious, he said, adding: “Noncompliance drives substandard work, project delays, site failures and safety risks, while also enabling unfair competition based on the exploitation of labour that undercuts compliant contractors.”
The problem was compounded by a system that could enable repeat offenders to re-enter the market. The BIBC said noncompliant contractors often deregistered, renamed or re-established entities, sometimes using associates and family members as the directors of new companies to avoid detection.
“The trend towards ‘fronting’ companies is widespread and complex,” said Hattingh. “Even if a new entity has no record of noncompliance, it can still be the same operators making it difficult for clients and procurement officials to know who they’re really dealing with.”
Hattingh spoke against cutting corners for short-term profits, as it created long-term systemic risk. “It undermines infrastructure quality and the credibility and sustainability of the entire industry.
“The BIBC’s message is clear: lasting reform will depend on a collective shift towards accountability. Ultimately, addressing this crisis requires more than enforcement. It demands a culture of compliance, where accountability is built into every stage of the building industry value chain.”
In March, four people were killed and several others injured in the collapse of the first-floor concrete slab of a two-storey building at Amethyst Business Park in Ormonde, Johannesburg. According to preliminary reports, the concrete slab dividing the structure into two storeys caved in and collapsed, leading to structural failure.
In his state of the province address two months ago, Western Cape premier Alan Winde said the police had completed their investigation into the May 6 2024 George building disaster, when a five-storey block of flats under construction collapsed, killing 34 construction workers and injuring dozens more.
He said the police had completed their investigation into all aspects of the disaster, and the case docket was with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for a decision on prosecution.
NPA Western Cape spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said: “Please note that the NPA is considering the evidence. We are being thorough due to the nature of the evidence we are dealing with.”
Business Day
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