By Simon Nare
President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the establishment of R180 million fund to fast-track construction projects which will help with job creation.
Ramaphosa said the fund would prepare and package infrastructure projects across government departments. This followed recently revised regulations for public-private partnerships.
The president said in his weekly newsletter to achieve the levels of growth the country needed to create enough jobs for its people, infrastructure development was important.
“We need far more construction and more reliable and consistent infrastructure maintenance. That is why infrastructure development is a strategic priority for government.
“Airports, roads, railways, public transit systems, water, energy and telecoms infrastructure all play a vital role in driving economic growth. Infrastructure development has a multiplier effect, driving productivity and job creation, and improving the delivery of basic services,” he said
He added that for many years, capital investment by both the public and private sectors was in decline. This was due to a difficult economic environment, the diversion of resources through state capture, bureaucratic obstacles and low investor confidence.
Following various reforms and initiatives, the infrastructure drive was gathering pace, he said.
Ramaphosa said a recent report by Nedbank found that the total value of new projects announced by both the public and private sectors last year amounted to R445 billion. This was more than double the year before and represented the largest fixed investment in infrastructure in South Africa since 2021.
He added that it was significant that more than 78% of the value of this infrastructure investment was from government and state-owned enterprises, and according to Statistics South Africa, capital spending by SOEs and all three spheres of government continued to rise.
The president said the private sector was lagging behind the state on infrastructure development spend.
“However private sector entities announced investment plans in 2024 with a total value of R95 billion. These included an R18 billion mixed-use development in Gauteng, a R4 billion investment by Volkswagen to upgrade its Kariega facility in the Eastern Cape and a new private university for the Western Cape,” he wrote.
He also said that the construction mafia was been tackled head on by the South African Police Service, with its Economic Infrastructure Task Team making headway in dealing with this criminality.
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