EMERGING FROM THE RUBBLE

EMERGING FROM THE RUBBLE

Rebuilding the Industry and the Nation

The National Infrastructure Plan 2050 envisions a vibrant construction industry that is open to all who want to get involved:

“The South African civil construction and supplier sector will be a vibrant and respected world-class African full service built environment delivery provider priming SouthernAfrican development and beyond. It will be cost-effective, and offer safe and reliable service with an experienced and skilled workforce and world-class products relevant to the development context.”

“It will be an industry that is inclusive with representative ownership and business practices. The industry will have a wide range of continuously improving products and services delivered by companies that range from small domestic-oriented ones to large companies able to deliver regionally and globally.”

In a construction index compiled on behalf of Afrimat, economist Dr. Roelof Botha commented on the way forward after the pandemic and social unrest : “...all eyes will now be on the government’s Recovery and Reconstruction Plan, which has been rather slow out of the starting blocks. The new Minister of Finance recently summed up the sentiment in the industry by stating that there should be less debate around economic growth and more action.”

Dr. Botha was reflecting on the mixed-bag of results for the industry, in the second quarter of 2021, which has been a relief, relative to where it was in the previous year, due to lockdowns instituted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The foundations of the industry were shaken, contracting 16.5% in 2020, with 259 118 jobs lost at the end of the third quarter of that year, in comparison to the same reporting period in 2019. Although the construction industry’s contribution to GDP decreased by 0.5% from the second quarter (over R110-billion contribution), the value of building plans passed rose 3.5% year-on-year in October, and the value of buildings completed also went up by 11%.

“Hopefully, further relaxation of lockdown regulations and the tax bonanza that has been reaped on the back of record mining sector profits will contribute to speedier implementation of this plan, which is closely aligned with the ambitiousR340-billion infrastructure plan,”added Dr. Botha.

EMPLOYMENT

The construction sector employed12 000 less people in June 2021, compared to the same time in the previous year, a decrease of 2.5%. The number of full-time employees fell by 16 000, but part-time employees increased by 4000 (6.7%)for the same period. “This was mainly due to decreases in employment in the building of complete constructions or parts thereof, civil engineering, building completion and building installation,” read StatsSA’s quarterly employment statistics report for June 2021.

Total gross earnings received by these employees was just shy ofR23-billion in June, 27% more than in the previous year. Basic salary/wages were also up, by 24.8%.Bonus and overtime payments saw the biggest leap, up by 69.3%.

476 000 employed

412 000 full-time employees

64 000 part-time employees

Over R28-billion in total gross earnings paid to employees

Over R26-billion in basic salary/wage payments

Just under R1.9-billion in bonus and overtime payments

SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE SYMPOSIUM SOUTH AFRICA 2021 (SIDSSA)

The Sustainable InfrastructureSymposium South Africa was launched in 2020, where 62 projects were presented, with R340-billion in spending commitments coming from the private sector. The report from the first edition of the symposium highlighted the breadth of the government's vision for this public-private partnership. At the time of its release 272 projects were being evaluated, with a total investment value of R2.3-trillion. The funding gap was sitting at R502-billion, with a potential to create 1.8 million jobs.

The 2021 edition was held onthe 6 and 7th of October.HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• 55 projects presented

• R595-billion investment value

• R441-billion funding gap

• 538 500 potential employment opportunities

SOURCES statssa.gov.za tradingeconomics.com businesswire.com industryinsight.co.za afrimat.co.za sidssa.org.za iol.co.za engineeringnews.co.za