R52 Million Road to Nowhere: Construction Mafia Leaves Sebokeng in the Dust

Sebokeng residents were promised a smooth ride between Zone 7 and Evaton. Instead, they’ve been left staring at a ghost road an abandoned stretch of gravel and broken promises all thanks to the grip of the so-called construction mafia.

The R52 million project, launched back in 2013, aimed to link communities and ease traffic with a new bridge over the Rietspruit. One part of the road, Nguna Street, was completed. But the other half, U Street, turned into a war zone of intimidation, extortion, and destruction.

Contractor Mutshutshu Nxumalo of Oro Projects says it all went wrong in 2017. That’s when extortionists demanded he use their “preferred” suppliers at inflated prices. When he refused, threats turned to violence his machinery torched, his workers terrified, his worksite abandoned.

Eight years later, the tar-less path lies cracked and wasted. The municipality now says it needs at least R7 million more to finish what was started, if it can even find a contractor brave enough to try.

Residents are outraged. “We’ve waited over a decade for this road,” said one local. “All we got was dust and disappointment.”

This isn’t just a road it is a symbol of a broken system. Emfuleni Local Municipality has been plagued by collapsing services, sewage spills, and failed infrastructure. And projects like this one? They vanish into the fog of corruption and fear.

Until something changes, Sebokeng’s “road to progress” will remain exactly that a road to nowhere.