Construction World July 2020

COMMENT

At the time of writing, late into South Africa’s level three of the lockdown – a time when the economy was seriously faltering – the presidency was going to bring to together funders, policy makers, state-owned enterprises, academics and members of the private sector to look at investment opportunities in infrastructure.

T he aim of an initiative such as this is twofold: to bring the local economy back from the brink of collapse and at the same time to create jobs, which is most certainly the ruling party’s biggest aim. President Ramaphosa said that this creation of jobs would be done by expanding public employment and upping investment in public infrastructure. "We should see infrastructure investment as a mobiliser of growth,” he said. While information of the extent of this investment is still sketchy, he said infrastructure would PDNH XS D ̴VLJQLͤFDQW SDUW̵ RI WKH VWLPXOXV SA's economy needs. One can be forgiven for being sceptic. We have heard it all before: infrastructure conferences, talk of huge investment, and international roadshows all led to very little. When the year started, long before it could EH LPDJLQHG WKDW 6RXWK $IULFD ZRXOG ͤQG itself in a total lockdown, the construction industry, one of the biggest providers of employment in the country, was stuttering.

And there was no light in sight for any turnaround to start. Then COVID-19 led to a complete shutdown and it was almost as though an atomic bomb hit the fan. The XQHPSOR\PHQW ͤJXUH ZHQW LQWR IUHHIDOO DQG the sometimes illogical prolonging of the lockdown accelerated this freefall. However, in my humble opinion, this time around government is serious about rescuing the economy and investing in infrastructure. Millions are quickly losing faith in the ruling party and the ANC knows that if it does not pull a rabbit out of the hat, it will cost them dearly at the next election. That is why it is opting to increase investment into infrastructure as it holds the key to unlock the country's – but also the ANC’s own – future. Past global crises have shown that government investment in infrastructure projects is the best way in which to salvage a sinking ship. Households and private sector business are reluctant to invest in such times. This is where government has to step up – particularly

with regard to maintenance schemes as these obviously have a quicker lead time. Easing bottlenecks in infrastructure project awarding is also a necessity. Investment in infrastructure will kick- start the economy as it will stimulate demand for job creation and stimulate private and household spending. By its very nature construction is the ideal solution: it is labour-intensive and can absorb workers from other sectors fairly easily. Getting infrastructure projects going will also have a positive effect on the entire supply chain as it will increase the need for professional services, raw materials, products, transport, accommodation, food, etc. However, the clock is ticking.

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EDITOR & DEPUTY PUBLISHER Wilhelm du Plessis constr@crown.co.za ADVERTISING MANAGER Erna Oosthuizen ernao@crown.co.za LAYOUT & GRAPHIC ARTIST Katlego Montsho CIRCULATION Karen Smith

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD JULY 2020