Construction World May 2021

and efficiently, say the experts. In contrast, traditional government consultation and procurement processes tend to slow progress down to a virtual standstill. Frustratingly, they say, government departments seem reluctant to accept offers of assistance from the private sector – even when it is offered for free. Says Dean Mulqueeny, Group Executive - AECI Water: “We have made offers to some municipalities to give them certain pieces of technology without any cost to them, which was unfortunately declined. During the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, we went directly to schools and a clinic at Hammanskraal to offer our assistance and fortunately the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality agreed. We invested around R3-million and got clean Taljaard notes that if water and waste projects do not start soon, South Africa also risks losing key skills. “There really is a lot of work in the pipeline in future – the Master Plan states R900-billion which is R90-bn per annum, that is more work than the water related industry in South Africa could handle over the next ten years,” he says. “But we need to do something before all of these businesses shut their doors. The economy is in crisis, cash reserves are running low, there is no envisaged new work in the short to medium term, and people are downsizing their businesses or closing down. What happens next is the experienced people and the up and coming expertise goes abroad, so when the situation does turn in a few years’ time, we will have a major skills crises and we will have to import skills.” Private sector approach needed to address waste management Waste management consultant Kobus Otto says metros in parts of running water to 5 000 people within two months.” Delays to drive skills out of SA

the country are facing a health and environmental crisis, as they are running out of landfill space and no progress has been made in developing new landfill sites. “We have beautiful plans and pieces of legislation in South Africa, but little in the way of implementation and enforcement. Unless legislation and policies are enforced, they aren’t worth the paper they are written on,” he says. Instead of current approaches which involve lengthy planning without sufficient research, the public sector should model its efforts on the private sector approach, which seeks to identify sustainable quick wins that are appropriate for the market or community they are deployed in. “For example, it would be far more cost effective to make well managed landfill and public dumping facilities available within easy reach of communities, instead of continually having to clear illegal dumping – which is a huge expenditure annually,” he says. Otto believes private sector approaches can go a long way toward solving the problem: “We need to use Africa’s brain power appropriately. We need to formalise informal systems and create markets and opportunities, which could create many new jobs and businesses.” No room for further delays Mulqueeny says: “The longer we wait to address the issue, the harder it is to fix. We need to start somewhere and work more closely together to make improvements. There are systems and technologies that could make significant improvements very quickly, and the private sector has the expertise and will to help the government deploy them.” Suzette Scheepers, CEO of IFAT Africa presenters Messe Muenchen South Africa, says: “Collaboration and communication is the only way to address these challenges in a sustainable way. IFAT Africa is a platform designed to bring together key stakeholders across public and private sectors to do exactly that.” ▄

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD MAY 2021