Construction World December 2024

ED’S NOTE

It features all the winners of Best Projects, a competition that was started in 2002 and which has grown in stature, significance and as one that reflects the status quo of the construction industry. Reading through the following 88 pages, you will be inspired by the innovation, ingenuity and resilience of the South African construction industry. Construction World’s December issue is the highlight on the MAGAZINE’s ANNUAL PUBLISHING CALENDAR

E ven though the competition had 84 entries in 2024, which is a record for the awards, mammoth projects are absent. Such projects benefit the industry across the entire supply chain and, for the duration that they are under construction, they play a significant role in the performance of the construction industry – a major contributor to the country’s GDP. Private Public Partnerships (PPPs) have been hailed as a way to change the fortunes of the South African construction industry – an industry that has been flatlining for almost a decade, but kept ticking over by the private sector and sporadic infrastructure projects. Upcoming PPP amendments have sparked optimism among infrastructure developers. PPP legislation and tenders are notoriously prohibitive in terms of cost, time, effort and their erratic nature. The construction and infrastructure development sector are now eagerly awaiting amendments to Treasury Regulation 16. These amendments will streamline and support more PPPs (I am

National Treasury proposed establishing two distinct pathways for PPPs – one for high-value projects, and another, simpler pathway for projects below R2-billion. This will create new opportunities for developers to bring creative solutions to the table in terms of ongoing infrastructure challenges such as for water, electricity and roads. Big and small This issue highlights the outstanding winners of Best Projects 2024. These range from bigger infrastructure projects to smaller projects that impress with their ingenuity and application of sustainable principles especially. May you be inspired by these projects – and i hope that in 2025 we can welcome more PPPs – big and small.

writing this before the amendments are made public – which should be before the beginning of December). The reforms, which were outlined in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) will strengthen planning, appraisal, contracting, financing, monitoring and evaluation. The result will be the faster delivery of infrastructure that supports economic growth, the expansion of access to basic services and boosting job creation. The amendments will address the challenges that have hampered structured and will hopefully address the interests of both the public and private sectors. In the draft amendment to Treasury Regulation 16, which was gazetted for public comment in February this year, was the launch of a PPP Advisory Unit to provide expert guidance that will assist in driving projects through the inception, preparation, evaluation, and approval phases. PPPs such as the bottlenecks in implementation, how PPPs are

Wilhelm du Plessis Editor

2 23 rd Best Projects Awards 2024