The value of South Africa’s portfolio of active infrastructure projects currently stands at R750-billion and there are 178 000 people employed across various projects sites, a new ‘comprehensive dashboard’ prepared by the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission (PICC) shows.

The dashboard was released at a meeting of the PICC council, which was held earlier this month at the Union Buildings. The gathering convened to discuss progress on the roll-out of the 18 Strategic Infrastructure Projects (Sips) that currently make up South Africa’s multibillion-rand National Infrastructure Plan.

It was chaired by President Jacob Zuma and attended by several national Ministers, provincial Premiers, executive mayors from the metropolitan councils and the South African Local Government Association.

The Sips cover a range of economic and social infrastructure projects, from new power stations and transport corridors to school, hospital and municipal infrastructure initiatives.

Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel, who leads the PICC secretariat, outlined progress in a presentation to the council, which Zuma described as “very comprehensive”.

The presentation revealed that the 18 Sips currently comprised 153 clusters of projects, covering 1 132 individual construction sites. It also showed that, during the term of the current administration, which will span from 2009 to next year’s election, R1-trillion would have been spent on infrastructure projects.

Patel said that was “double” the expenditure on infrastructure that was made in the five years prior, during which a number of high-profile projects associated with FIFA World Cup were undertaken.

Nevertheless, the meeting came against a backdrop of ongoing anxiety about the pace of delivery, particularly given a strong drop-off in private-sector fixed investment.

These concerns were repeated recently by PPC CEO Ketso Gordhan, who called for an ‘infrastructure Codesa’ to add momentum to the execution of the infrastructure programme and to ensure the inclusion of public–private partnerships in the overall pipeline.

The meeting also came amid an atmosphere of mistrust between government and the construction industry – a breakdown attributed partly to findings of widespread bid rigging by construction companies.

Following a fast-track process, the Com- petition Commission reached settlements in late June with 15 construction firms for collusive tendering. These companies agreed to penalties collectively totalling R1.46-billion, while three other firms rejected the settlement terms.

Patel indicated that government was considering a coordinated plan across government to file legal claims over and above the penalties, which still needed to be confirmed by the Competition Tribunal.

However, he said action was also being taken to rebuild relations with an industry that was key to the implementation of the infrastructure plan.

The PICC was also putting the final touches to a 30-year infrastructure roadmap, which would include a project pipeline bigger than the current R4.3-trillion pipeline.