Construction World May 2015

COMMENT

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In recent years the R800-billion- plus that was budgeted by government for infrastructure development, has been the subject of many discussions. It was seen as a way to alleviate the economic meltdown by ensuring that local construction companies stay busy. After years a mere trickle of what was budgeted for has been awarded though, with the result that major construction companies are looking elsewhere to do to business.

The construction of stadiums, amongst others, boosted the construction industry, but when widespread collusion was uncovered, this boost to construction was tainted. Pictured: Mbombela Stadium.

This, Nicolau says, is exacerbated by the fact that the construction industry has not transformed at the rate of other industries in South Africa. Government is not without fault though. Working for government is more often than not fraught with non-payment, delays, and major changes to scope. This has necessitated some major companies tomove into the rest of Africa and also further afield. More than half of Basil Read’s business involves projects for government. It is for this reason that Nicolau maintains that the depen- dence on government projects should be seen as an opportunity rather than a risk: an oppor- tunity to ‘mature’ the relationship between government and the construction industry.

EDITOR Wilhelm du Plessis constr@crown.co.za ADVERTISING MANAGER Erna Oosthuisen ernao@crown.co.za LAYOUT & DESIGN Lesley Testa CIRCULATION Karen Smith Nicolau says the reason for collusion is that the construction industry is still ‘largely living in the past’. Although collusion was almost ‘accepted’ behaviour before 2010, the difference is that this time around they were caught out. Industry maintains that it is impossible, due to the small size of the local industry, to bid for large projects alone. The reasons industry give for this have ranged from a severe lack of skills within government to actually make projects happen, to a severe distrust in government, exacerbated by the fact that some projects for government are often fraught with pitfalls. However, Neville Nicolau, CEO of Basil Read, one of the largest construction companies in South Africa, maintains that this less-than- ideal relationship between government and construction companies has been the result of two significant things: slow transformation within the construction industry and the recent collusion saga. The latter sawmost of the coun- try’s large construction companies penalised (some significantly) for colluding over large government contracts.

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Sustainable supplement Construction World will be publishing its first supplement for sustainable construc- tion – Sustainable Construction World – in October this year. It will have the same circulation as the main magazine and also the same target audience. This is the ideal opportunity to publicise excellence in sustainability: projects, new products, equipment and techniques. Contact me directly should you wish to discuss editorial contributions. It is also the ideal vehicle to reach the target audience that will use these very products, services and equipment. For advertising enquiries contact Erna Oost- huizen, our advertising manager, whose contact details are elsewhere on this page.

Wilhelm du Plessis Editor @ConstWorldSA (2 000 Twitter followers – and growing)

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The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the editor or the publisher.

CONSTRUCTION WORLD MAY 2015