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MBAWC 2021 ANNUAL REPORT: EXTRACTS FROM PRESIDENT ROY HENDRICKS'S REPORT Dear fellow members
allegedly billions have been wasted. This is money that could have been allocated to urgent needs, such as affordable housing.
As I reflect on the past six years of my tenure as an officer of the Master Builders Association Western Cape (MBAWC), initially as junior vice-president and over the past two years as president, I must concede that the past two years have been the worst I have experienced in my 38 years in the construction industry. I have seen our industry in constant decline (the Bureau for Economic Research at one point reported a decline on a quarterly basis of 68% and GDP went from 4,2% in 2015 to 2,7% in 2020). (Above): Roy Hendricks, president of MBAWC.
On 23 March 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a 21-day national lockdown which would commence at midnight on 26 March and spelt out a Covid-19 relief package. Many of the promised interventions did not materialise and the National Infrastructure Development Programme (NIDP) that was announced, which was set to kick-start the economy and create employment, has yet to be rolled out. In the meantime, massive corruption continues to be unearthed, including that related to Covid-19 personal protective equipment procurement, where
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Despite all the doom and gloom, however, economists predict some growth over the next few years, albeit slow, to peak at 4% in 2026. Although there continues to be a lack of foreign investment, local investment in housing developments (especially social housing) continues to grow steadily. There is expected to be an increase in spend on student housing and if Parliament and Treasury give the NIDP the green light, a roll-out of infrastructure projects is expected in the first quarter of 2022. The Cape Town Municipality has committed to implementing the Western Cape Recovery Plan, which is aimed at creating jobs. In further good news, the River Club development kicked off with the construction of the R4,5 billion Amazon Head Office. There are also advanced plans to develop a private airport at the proposed Fisantekraal development and continued expansion up the West Coast. In my last report, I acknowledged the work done by the Construction
SOUTH AFRICAN BUILDER NOVEMBER 2021
