Infrastructure projects give the country, economy a facelift

Infrastructure projects across the country are expected to transform the landscape of cities, towns and rural areas, while also addressing the social, economic and spatial injustices of the past.

Infrastructure development and its related mass employment programme are all part of the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan unveiled by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Public Works and Infra-structure Minister Patricia de Lille unpacked these elements of the plan recently. Leading up to the recovery plan, Cabinet approved the Infrastructure Investment Plan (IIP). The IIP relates to a new methodology of project planning, preparation and packaging infrastructure projects to ensure their bankability.

“This has produced a credible pipeline of infrastructure projects across the country that are not only transactional in nature, but also address the social, economic and spatial injustices of our past. “Since the end of 2019, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has worked closely with the Infrastructure and Investment Office in the Presidency to put together a pipeline of infrastructure projects that will completely transform the landscape of our cities, towns and rural areas,” said the Minister.

The IIP focuses on implementation and investment in the immediate, medium- and long-term.

Strategic Integrated Projects

The first phase of the IIP includes projects from all three spheres of government, state-owned enterprises and the private sector.

Fifty infrastructure projects were determined ready for investment and implementation. A further 12 special projects, of which five have an additional focus of mass employment, were identified in the plan. All 62 were gazetted as Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs) in July this year.

The gazetting enables projects to be prioritised and regulatory processes and implementation fast-tracked. The SIPs are at various stages and will result in major job creation and stimulation of the economy over several financial years. Those already in construction will see future phases implemented sooner.

“We are pulling them altogether into a credible pipeline and have a steering committee to monitor implementation and assist where blockages arise, to prevent delays and ensure implementation is achieved,” explained the Minister De Lille.

Cabinet approved the establishment of Infra-structure South Africa (ISA) as the single-entry point for all infrastructure projects. ISA is the administrative arm and has been tasked to drive the implementation of the IIP. It will assist with resolving blockages, unlocking funding and monitoring implementation.

Meanwhile, the Infra-structure Fund will pro-vide capacity to prepare and package projects. Government has committed R100-billion over 10 years to the Infrastructure Fund, which is encouraging private investors to help build capability for infrastructure delivery within the State and develop blended financing models.

What is new is that the methodology assesses the projects in terms of how they advance the national development goals, including the National Development Plan and the priorities of the current administration and the African Union's Agenda 2063.

“What will be different with implementation is that we have collated, assessed and gazetted the projects, we had pitching sessions, expecting R340-billion in private sector investment for some of the 62 gazetted projects.”

Ensuring implementation

Projects have been gazetted in terms of the Infrastructure Development Act which means that processes relating to implementation, such as approvals, authorisations, licences, permissions or exemptions, now run concurrently instead of one process happening after the other.

ISA is also in the pro-cess of adapting the infrastructure procurement framework to enable public-private partnerships and unlock new funding mechanisms for major infrastructure investment.

In August, government advertised for professionals to serve on the Technical Advisory Panel for the IIP, to support the implementation of the plan. Appointments are expected soon.

Three funding channels are being used to ensure that the projects will be implemented. This includes funding from the private sector, including funding from international funding institutions, multilateral development banks, development financing institutions and commercial banks; blended financing, which encourages the private sector to invest in the Infrastructure Fund; and the fiscus.

Mass employment programmes

Four mass infrastructure-led public employment programmes have been gazetted.

The Comprehensive Urban Management Programme will be implemented across all 44 districts and eight metros to clean up cities and towns. It will employ and sustain 52 000 jobs over the next three years, while providing training and skills development to aid in the sustainability and longevity of employment post the programme.

“This translates to approximately 1 000 jobs per district, starting in the Vhembe District Municipality, OR Tambo District Municipality and eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality,” said the Minister. The activities will be locally driven, allowing participants to earn an income while contributing to their community in tasks, such as cleaning towns, cities and townships.

The Rural Bridges Welisizwe Programme will ensure the installation of bridges over rivers to enable people to cross them safely.

Gazetting this programme has enabled the rollout of bridges to be scaled up. The delivery programme, subject to the finalisation of funding, is for the installation of 14 bridges by March 2021 and 170 in the following 12 months.

The plan is for the installation of 400 bridges in three years, with priority provinces being the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State. The Digitisation of the Government Information Programme focuses on accelerating job creation as a response to COVID-19, through the creation of mass employment opportunities for 10 000 unemployed youth graduates to digitise physical paper-based government records. The Rural Roads Rehabilitation and Upgrading Special Programme specifically focuses on innovative local technologies, using labour-intensive methods and local materials.

Over 4 000 jobs will be created in the labour-intensive maintenance and construction of rural roads, with a method that focuses on local conditions and assisting communities in maintenance and upkeep.

The 200km of roads initially identified are in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape, North West, Limpopo, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal.

“In all of these programmes, we will ensure that recruitment is fair, open and transparent, and that opportunities are advertised widely,” said Minister De Lille.

Project updates

The SIP Steering Commit-tee is fast-tracking the implementation of the 62 projects, including the approval of credit enhancing instruments, unlocking funding for the provision of bulk infrastructure and the speedy processing of water use licenses, environmental impact assessments and town-ship establishment.

Many of the human settlement SIPs have been constrained due to the funding of bulk services. The gazetting of the projects now enables ISA and the steering committee to expedite the process to reach concrete solutions that will see the next phases of the projects commencing.

“This will result in major job creation and the development of much-needed human settlements across the country,” said the Minister. SIPs currently under construction that require funding solutions are:

• Lufhereng, in Johannesburg, Gauteng. The development is envisaged to deliver over 24 000 housing opportunities of different typologies. Over 7 000 jobs are to be created, of which 2 000 are already in existence.

• Mooikloof and Green Creek, in Tshwane, Gauteng. These two integrated housing, private sector projects are estimated to yield 60 000 jobs.

• Greater Cornubia, in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal. The development is expected to deliver over 57 000 housing opportunities and 64 000 jobs across the project lifecycle.

• Vista Park I and II, in Mangaung, Free State. This project is expected to yield 33 300 units and 5 500 jobs are to be created over the project’s lifecycle.

In total, 18 housing projects have been gazetted as SIPs, valued at R129-billion. These projects will produce over 190 000 housing units.