Editor’s comment

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Time for a reset and a restart

South Africa’s market leaders – in every industry – have learnt to master the art of contingency planning to weather worst-case scenario outcomes. However, the July 2021 unrest caught everyone off guard. But as a prime example of resilience, some of the worstaffected groups immediately began the process of restoring their operations.

While the unrest has also been a setback for the vaccination programme, this too is regaining momentum and hopefully a significant percentage of the population will have been vaccinated by the end of 2021.

For now, the immediate priority is for the public and private sector to work together to find a workable balance. A positive step in this direction was the virtual meeting held on 20 July 2021 with more than 100 top business leaders, including those representing the informal and SMME sector. Convened by President Cyril Ramaphosa, a key focus was placed on joint initiatives to restore and rebuild economic sectors impacted by the riots. A parallel priority is the need to find faster, sustainable ways to address widespread poverty and inequality.

All stakeholders are invested, and this is a real opportunity for government to accelerate the infrastructure-led economic recovery in earnest.

Promoting localisation

One of the best ways to achieve this, alongside public-private partnerships, is to foster and regulate a far greater degree of localisation, particularly in manufacturing. Currently, for example, South Africa’s cement industry still competes with lowerpriced imported products, although there’s more than sufficient local capacity.

Within the mix, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) plays a critical role and continues to lay the groundwork for local and foreign investment. The DTIC’s support for the multibillion-rand Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Development (TASEZ) is a case in point.

A more recent example is the July launch of an initiative by Isondo Precious Metals (IPM) to establish South Africa’s emerging green hydrogen sector. Being constructed within Ekurhuleni’s O.R. Tambo Special Economic Zone, IPM’s high-tech plant will manufacture electrolyser and fuel cell components using locally sourced materials. It’s an exciting project and the DTIC says it’s approved R55 million towards the feasibility and execution of the plant.

Building construction capacity

Creating new markets is a vital GDP diversification strategy, but the enabling framework for any industry can only be achieved with world-class infrastructure. Within the roads segment, there have been encouraging signs of new Sanral awards. Hopefully these will gain momentum alongside municipal road projects to sustain the industry and create new jobs.

According to the latest Databuild Construction Insight report, civil construction projects worth R2.8 billion and R2.7 billion were awarded for the months of April and May 2021 respectively. The report also states that there has been a general improvement in civils activity levels, which is encouraging.

New building, civil and allied project awards are also anticipated in the wake of the destruction caused by the unrest. Hopefully, these will serve as the catalyst for a broader rebuild programme, spurred on by initiatives like South Africa’s housing, sanitation and renewable energy roll-outs.

Alastair

www.infrastructurenews.co.za

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