Construction World November 2015

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Best Projects, Construction World’s recognition of excellence in the construction world, illustrates the breadth of innovation, diversity, ingenuity and complexity of South African civils and building projects. It is also an indicator of how healthy (or unhealthy) the South African construction industry is.

Two of the three judges for Construction World’s Best Projects, Trueman Goba and Rob Newberry, hard at work during the judging of this year’s competition.

structure projects that is more favourable than it has often been in the past, must be found – probable through pacts with the financial services industry. 8. A minimum wage will be implemented – once a proper study has been conducted. 9. An agency will be established that will vet all strategic workers and officials at state-owned companies. One can but hope that these are not merely empty promises to get maximumpublic support during the upcoming, and very important, local government elections.

EDITOR Wilhelm du Plessis constr@crown.co.za ADVERTISING MANAGER Erna Oosthuizen ernao@crown.co.za LAYOUT & DESIGN Lesley Testa CIRCULATION Karen Smith When I startedmanaging this awards programme in 2010, a record 74 entries were received – obvi- ously buoyed by the construction boom leading up to the World Cup. In the years that followed, Best Projects received upwards of 60 entries (many of which still had direct or indirect links to this boom period). While there was a marked drop the civil engineering and building contrac- tors entries, there were dramatic increases in the specialist supplier or contractor and professional services categories. The judging of this year’s entries took place early in October. The competition still received a healthy number of entries – 51, but significantly less than the 74 of six years ago. Construction activity is directly influenced by political and economic factors – albeit that it has a lagging effect. Even though the downward trend in the amount of entries won’t be arrested in a year or two, one can only hope that, in the long term, there will be a lasting solution. The African National Congress (ANC) emerged from its fourth National General Council in October – reportedly re-energised with a bold commitment to securing a decisive victory for the party in the 2016 Local Govern- ment Elections. Various aspects were discussed

and prioritised during this forum. Aspects that directly influence the economy (and indirectly construction) are: 1. It was decided that Eskom needs to revamp aging power stations in partnership with public industry (coming back to Best Projects: for the second year running there were no PPP entries), while the cost implications of building nuclear power plants should be investigated. 2. The mining industry, particularly the stand-off over black-empowerment, must be resolved if there is any chance of rescuing SA’s ailing mining industry. 3. Manufacturing incentives must be reviewed to ensure that they support jobs 4. State backing should be given to the steel industry. 5. The laws regulating the oil and gas industries must be finalised so they provide certainty to investors. 6. SA’s budget should focus on investment and not consumption expenditure. 7. A way to secure funding for infra-

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Wilhelm du Plessis Editor

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD NOVEMBER 2015