The mandate of the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission (PICC) to develop a 20-year pipeline of infrastructure and construction projects allows for long-term planning and investment by public- and private-sector companies.

The infrastructure plan of the PICC, released in April 2012, highlights 18 strategic areas for infrastructure development. The Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs) include investing in infrastructure for the northern minerals belt; developing a Durban–Free State–Gauteng logistics and industrial corridor; improving the infrastructure for electricity generation, transmission and distribution; public transport improvements; a national school building programme; as well as construction of rural and municipal infrastructure.

Deputy President of South Africa and one of the Cabinet members running the PICC Kgalema Motlanthe states in the 2012 PICC report that the National Infrastructure Plan (NIP) is giving the structure of the economy a more employment-friendly, equitable and inclusive trajectory. “Accordingly, the government of the country recognises the vital role of the social partners in creating an enabling environment for implementing national infrastructure plans, mobilising human resources and ensuring accountability,” he says.

Meanwhile, despite the PICC being a positive initiative, the construction industry continues to be challenged by the uncertainty of when the infrastructure plan and the funding mechanisms will be made availabe to industry. However, certain State-owned companies have begun to detail capital expenditure programmes (capex) that could benefit the construction industry.

Speaking at national building organisation Master Builders South Africa’s Congress 2013 last month, Public Works Minister Thembelani Nxesi noted that since the implementation of the NIP by the PICC, there had been a significant increase in infrastructure investment in the past year, relative to gross domestic product, to the current level of 7.8%. He highlighted that administration had spent almost R1-trillion on infrastructure, which was almost double the rate of investment in the previous five years.

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South African Government News Agency reports that, at the beginning of this year, State-owned rail, port and pipeline utility Transnet increased its capex from R110-billion to R300-billon to ensure adequate capacity so that future demands through investments in rail, ports and pipeline infrastructure could be met.

State-owned power utility Eskom started its capacity expansion programme in 2005. The agency adds that the massive build programme to boost electricity generation by Eskom includes the construction of the Medupi coal-fired power station, in Lephalale, Limpopo, and the Ingula pumped-storage scheme, in the Drakensburg, at the border of the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal, which have also created jobs and stimulated devel-opment in the surrounding communities.

State-owned broadband utility Broadband Infraco invested in an international undersea communications cable – West Africa Cable System – which was launched in 2012. The cable will contribute to an increase in capacity, linking South Africa and Europe, and it will enable the country to provide broadband infrastructure for national projects such as the radio telescope Square Kilometre Array, says the South African Government News Agency.

At the congress, Nxesi mentioned that government had encountered key obstacles in implementing the NIP, including a lack of capacity, finding local suppliers of specialised equipment, the often conflict-ridden nature of labour relations in the construction industry and the complexity of identifying viable developmental projects, as well as corruption and price fixing.

“To support government in its efforts to implement these plans, the construction industry needs to mobilise the nation behind a common vision. “This requires partnerships across government, the business sector and organised labour. “While we are waiting for the plans to be executed, we have to strategise on how best to use this moment in the life of the construction industry to promote transformation and the development of the sector,” he added.