Construction World September 2022

COMMENT

Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana headlined the annual Infrastructure Indaba hosted by Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) in August. The Minister delivered the keynote address on the first day of the event and discussed issues including procurement and infrastructure development.

opportunities and investment in infrastructure in addition to the shortage of general construction projects are of grave concern to a stuttering industry. Since the pandemic started, there have been attempts to address the short- and long-term business challenges in the built environment. One such long-term plan is the South African Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan that is aimed at stimulating equitable and inclusive growth. During the national lockdown Government diverted infrastructure spending to alleviate the country's economic and social crisis, cutting traditional expenditure by some 80%. Even though this was necessary, it has had a ripple effect on almost all sectors, the construction sector one of the worst hit. The sector is now faced with the task of recovering, rebuilding and re establishing operational sustainability. The Indaba had, as one of its aims, a rekindling of the lofty aspirations of this plan. Let’s hope the rekindling leads to a blaze.

purpose of the annual Infrastructure Indaba is to “share ideas on optimising efficiencies in infrastructure investment and implementation while ensuring investments are sustainable”. The Indaba is of great value because it facilitates deliberations between industry partners, client bodies and funding agencies. This year’s event tackled topics such as Infrastructure Development/Energy Infrastructure Services; Capacity Building for Sustainable Delivery; Transformation & Development; Procurement & Public Infrastructure Projects; Engineering Capability & Technology; and Water Security. The event’s speaker line-up included Dr. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, Head of the Investment and Infrastructure office in the office of the President of South Africa; Jan Oberholzer, Eskom Chief Operations Officer; Refilwe Buthelezi, President of the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA); Chuene Ramphele, Group Executive, Infrastructure Delivery at Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and other distinguished speakers who all discussed issues relating to infrastructure development. The decline in large build

T he indaba gave attendees the opportunity to engage with him and indirectly get the South African rebuild programme back on track. This was the first in-person indaba since 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic placed limitations on gatherings. The Infrastructure Indaba was an opportunity for delegates to engage, network and share experiences, not only amongst other consulting engineers, but also with lawyers, economists, government officials and other specialists from the engineering and built environment. CESA CEO Chris Campbell said the

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2 CONSTRUCTION WORLD SEPTEMBER 2022