President Cyril Ramaphosa has emphasised that the seventh administration is committed to significantly expanding infrastructure investment, as it is crucial for driving economic growth and ensuring efficient service delivery.
The President was briefing the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) in Parliament on various national developments including government’s response to incidents of extortion against businesses and individuals, and progress in the fight against unemployment and poverty.
“The development of public infrastructure is necessary for effective service delivery and economic development. That is why we are determined as this administration to massively increase the scale of investment in infrastructure. Through this investment, we will turn South Africa into a building site,” the President said.
However, the President acknowledged that public infrastructure projects that are delayed or abandoned have a negative impact on the ability of communities to access services.
To address this challenge, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure began the identification of delayed and abandoned projects within its portfolio during the sixth democratic administration.
Through a Presidential Proclamation in 2019, the Infrastructure Development Act was moved to the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure.
The President explained that this enabled the Minister to develop a more holistic approach to infrastructure development in all spheres of government and the private sector through Infrastructure South Africa.
He highlighted that the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has identified a number of key pillars to drive the infrastructure investment process such as institutional arrangements for implementation of the National Infrastructure Plan 2050.
“One of the other pillars is to ensure that there is better preparation and prioritisation of infrastructure projects. Other proposed reforms include multi-year budgeting for infrastructure planning and delivery, and speeding up permitting and approval processes.
“The task of identifying incomplete and abandoned infrastructure projects is being implemented throughout all provinces. The completion of these projects requires dedicated capacity that may not be readily available,” he said.
To address this, President Ramaphosa said the department has issued calls for various professionals in the built environment to provide expertise to the department as required.
One of the mechanisms to monitor progress on identified projects at an executive level is the Siyahlola programme.
“In this programme, site visits are conducted to check the status and plans to complete outstanding work. Follow up visits are also conducted after a few months to ensure that the recovery plans are being implemented,” he said.
The Siyahlola programme is bringing stakeholders, such as local and district municipalities, together to unblock any issues related to bulk infrastructure and outstanding approvals.
The programme further demonstrates effective interventions that can be achieved through the District Development Model as all stakeholders are brought in to work on the same goal. – SAnews.gov.za
