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COMMENT

The devastating impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will be felt for a long time – some say years. More developed countries will recover faster, but the South African economy is maximally exposed to such devastation. President Cyril Ramaphosa, in a joint sitting of Parliament in October said he hopes that the implementation of the reconstruction and recovery plan will raise the average growth of the economy to around 3% over the next decade.

H e stated that the country’s recovery will be propelled by swift reforms that will “unleash the potential of the economy”. This will be aided by a government that is committed to clean governance. We may have heard this many times before, but there is no real alternative. An attempt is better than nothing and a governing party’s ability to save the masses (and its own relevance) is at stake – now more than ever. Ramaphosa did state that any economic rebound requires the country to focus on interventions that will have a rapid and far-reaching impact. How effective this will be depends on the channels created, governance applied and expertise available. At the core of this is a massive infrastructure rollout that will form the basis of the rst intervention. "We have developed a robust pipeline of projects that will completely transform the landscape of our cities, towns and rural

areas,” says a buoyant Ramaphosa. In true spin-doctor style he rattled off some impressive numbers: by the end of June 2020 there were 276 catalytic projects in the country with a combined investment value of R2,3-trillion. He added that some 50 strategic integrated projects and 12 ‘special projects’ were gazetted in July 2020. These projects have been prioritised for immediate implementation while the regulatory processes have been fast-tracked to enable R340-billion of new investment. Access to nance is a key consideration and Ramaphosa said that the Infrastructure Fund will provide R100-billion in catalytic nance over the next 10 years. As a second intervention a major focus will be to rapidly expand the country’s energy generating capacity. "We are accelerating the implementation of the Integrated Resource Plan to provide a substantial increase in the contribution of

renewable energy sources, battery storage and gas technology,” said Ramaphosa. In the immediate term agreements with Independent Power Producers to connect an additional 2 000 MW to the national grid from existing projects, will be nalised by June 2021. The current slow and ine cient regulatory framework will be adapted to facilitate new generation projects. Whether all this will happen remains to be seen. At stake is an industry, a country and the lives of thousands.

Stay safe Wilhelm du Plessis

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EDITOR & DEPUTY PUBLISHER Wilhelm du Plessis constr@crown.co.za

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD NOVEMBER 2020