Editor’s comment

MANAGING EDITOR Alastair Currie SENIOR JOURNALIST Kirsten Kelly JOURNALIST Nombulelo Manyana FEATURES WRITER Ziyanda Majodina HEAD OF DESIGN Beren Bauermeister CHIEF SUB-EDITOR Tristan Snijders CONTRIBUTORS Mervyn Goliath, Aliyah Ince, Bonke Mncwango, Terence Milne, Jason Smit, Muhammed Somrey, Bhavna Soni PRODUCTION & CLIENT LIAISON MANAGER Antois-Leigh Nepgen PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Jacqueline Modise GROUP SALES MANAGER Chilomia Van Wijk BOOKKEEPER Tonya Hebenton DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Nomsa Masina DISTRIBUTION COORDINATOR Asha Pursotham SUBSCRIPTIONS subs@3smedia.co.za PRINTERS Novus Print Montague Gardens

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Let’s make every cent count

South Africa’s annual State of the Nation Address (SONA) on 10 February 2022 will be even more significant this year as society reflects on a turbulent 2021 from a business, economic and political perspective. The hard cost of the Covid19 pandemic was not unique to South Africa, but our fragile state prior to this certainly exacerbated the situation. Plus, it was compounded by the unprecedented scale of the civil unrest experienced in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal during July 2021. Those incidences served as a red flag that our pressing social issues have reached a boiling point.

Consumers are under pressure. According to Statistics South Africa, in 2021 average consumer inflation was 4.5%, which was higher than 2020 (3.3%) and 2019 (4.1%). One of the biggest shocks has been the spiralling fuel price, which has had a negative knock-on effect. The whole of South Africa is now pinning its hopes on a positive change in direction.

As in previous SONAs, the focus will be on South Africa’s Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP). A key part of that hinges on crowding in local and foreign direct investment for critical infrastructure and industries, with an underlying emphasis on job creation, as well as stabilising the electricity grid.

An equally important focus is the need to cut unnecessary public debt and eradicate wasteful expenditure. Like all sectors of our society, modern governments must be lean, relevant and responsive. Interconnected with this is the adherence to an exacting ethical standard that rules out corruption.

SIU report

Released in January 2022, South Africa’s Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report on Covid-19 procurement indicates the scale of the problem when it comes to the mismanagement of public funds. According to the report, “At least 5 467 government contracts awarded to some 3 066 service providers with a total value of R14.3 billion were or are being investigated by the SIU.” Of the approximately 4 549 contracts investigated by the SIU to date, a staggering 2 803 were irregular.

However, what the report also shows is that positive steps are in place to prevent it from happening in the future. Clearly, that’s a nonnegotiable expectation for any lender or taxpayer.

World Bank Group loan

A case in point is the World Bank Group, which recently approved a US$750 million (R11.35 billion) development policy loan for South Africa to support the accelerated implementation of the ERRP.

South Africa is one of more than 100 countries receiving financial loans from the World Bank Group to help them respond and rebuild. It’s a partnership approach that bolsters countries, regions and the global economy.

“It will assist in addressing the immediate challenge of financing critical health and social safety net programmes, while also continuing to develop our economic reform agenda to build back better,” said Dondo Mogajane, DG of National Treasury.

Hopefully those portions of the World Bank Group loan allocated to social welfare will leave more margin for increased infrastructure spend allocation. Further details will unfold with South Africa’s National Budget Speech on 23 February.

In the meantime, IMIESA would like to wish all our readers and advertisers a prosperous 2022!

Alastair

www.infrastructurenews.co.za

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The official magazine of the Institute of Municipal Engineering of Southern Africa

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To our avid readers, check out what we are talking about on our website, Facebook page or follow us on Twitter and have your say.

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Cover opportunity

In each issue, IMIESA offers advertisers the opportunity to get to the front of the line by placing a company, product or service on the front cover of the journal. Buying this position will afford the advertiser the cover story and maximum exposure. For more information on cover bookings, contact Joanne Lawrie on +27 (0)82 346 5338.