By: Roelof van den Berg - CEO of Gap Infrastructure Corporation (GIC)

South Africa's infrastructure delivery momentum risks stalling as further diesel price hikes loom, largely driven by ongoing geopolitical tensions linked to the US-Iran conflict and the likelihood that the recent temporary R3 reduction in the general fuel levy will need to be reversed in the months ahead. For construction sites that heavily depend on diesel for daily operations, rising costs may place greater pressure on already tight project budgets.

For the infrastructure sector, a diesel price movement of this scale can impact every aspect of project delivery, affecting both large, established contractors, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) still gaining a foothold in the industry.

If the sector fails to adapt before the pressure reaches construction sites, many operators may be forced to shut down temporarily, others permanently, and projects could grind to a halt. The public infrastructure sector will feel the strain most sharply, where delays in delivering essential services place entire communities at risk. When there is a fuel price spike, so do operating and material expenses as pressure moves through the supply chain.

When meta-events like these happen, two words guide our approach: governance and implementation.

Implementation: disciplined execution is the first line of cost defence

Consistent implementation under financial pressure starts with disciplined planning,  clear operational standards and firm cost control. These are important ways for contractors to absorb volatile fuel prices. The line between a project that holds its budget and one that exceeds it is usually drawn long before the first machine is switched on.

Equipment deployment, site logistics, transport routing, and construction sequencing determine how much fuel a project consumes or wastes. Left unmanaged, inefficiencies at this level accumulate in the background and surface suddenly as cost overruns late in the project lifecycle, when they are hardest to address.

Projects that are poorly structured at the design stage carry their inefficiencies through to completion, locking in problems that become harder and more expensive to correct once the work has been actioned. Fuel requirements, site movement patterns, and logistics dependencies must be resolved during early planning, before construction activity exposes any weaknesses built into the plan.

A project designed around real delivery conditions, with realistic timelines, consolidated site activity, and logistics aligned to resource availability, enters implementation  with a measurable cost advantage that carries through the life of the project.

Governance: building the systems that make fuel costs manageable

Governance is a crucial part of moving from coordination to control to implementation. It’s the real processes and systems we often hear about applied to the real-world site, as they give project teams clear visibility across every site and supplier relationship. By securing bulk fuel procurement agreements, project managers more effectively shield projects from spot market volatility by locking in pricing for the duration of the work, giving planners the certainty they need to manage budgets and keep delivery on track. Consolidated fuel logistics on multi-contractor sites further strengthen purchasing leverage and reduce the inefficiencies that come with each contractor managing supply in isolation.

At the project level, deeper use of telematics and GPS-based fleet management systems give project managers the ability to monitor consumption patterns more closely, cut idle time, and stop unauthorised usage before developing into material budget risk. Fuel management systems with site-level consumption dashboards turn that visibility into daily operating decisions instead of delayed monthly reviews. Data is now bridging the time gap, allowing decisions to be at the speed of fuel consumption that can have a highly positive effect on efficiency and overall project viability. Finally, adopting a maintenance mindset that is preventive versus reactive, which protects engine efficiency and stops poorly maintained equipment from quietly driving up fuel consumption and generating unpredictable stoppages.

Recent global market shifts and geopolitical disruptions have once again exposed how quickly stable pricing can unravel under pressure. The best defence is taking the first step: tightening internal operational controls and putting the structures needed in place that allow projects to adjust quickly when conditions materially change.