The Durban based Delangokubona Business Forum, sometimes known as amaDelangokubona, claims to be a legitimate business association but is widely described as a 'mafia'.‘Delangokubona’ and the distribution of rents and opportunity, Ayabonga Cawe, WIDER Working Paper 58, 2022Rise of the new construction ‘mafia’ Lynley Donnelly, Mail & Guardian, 12 April 2019Mafia-style business forum halts multi-million road project, BONGANI MTHETHWA, Times Live, 9 February 2018
It's tactics have included armed disruptions of construction sites and threats accompanied by demands for a percentage of contacts and armed demands that certain businesses not operate in certain areas.
Delangokubona has been connected to and strongly supportive of former South African President Jacob ZumaReligious, business, political leaders call for support for Zuma ahead of court appearance, Polity, 5 April 2018 and former Durban Mayor Zandile Gumede, both of whom have been investigated for large scale corruption.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned the organisation for engaging in 'robbery' and called for a law enforcement crackdown.
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