The South African Institution of Civil Engineers (Saice) has welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s latest call for the public and private sectors to work together in preparation for infrastructure projects that will be rolled out to help revive the ailing economy.
The President spoke during the Infrastructure South Africa (ISA) Project Preparation Round-Table and Market Place, held in Midrand earlier this week.
Saice CEO Vishaal Lutchman says the roundtable event was held to bring both the public and private sectors together to ensure a more coordinated engagement, especially around the financing of these projects, with government now committed to financing the project preparation process.
One of the aims of the event was to identify how ISA can act as an enabler of these opportunities in the months ahead through its role as an entity to unblock priority projects for South Africa.
The event was also intended to align key stakeholders and decision-makers – from donors and development banks to commercial financiers in the project preparation field and project developers – on the actionable solutions at hand that can accelerate project preparation and unblock the growing number of projects in the early-stage pipeline in South Africa.
“Infrastructure has great potential to stimulate investment and growth and has a multiplier effect which will ultimately lead to development of other economic sectors thus creating sustainable employment,” Lutchman notes.
He warns, however, that poor planning and preparation in infrastructure development efforts will ultimately see an inverse reaction, with counterproductive economic effects.
“Any experienced civil engineer is acutely aware of the impact that poor project preparation can have down the line. I am certain that many such engineers have experienced the consequences of financial or structural disasters. The importance of proper planning cannot be overemphasised.
“However, simultaneously, the development of infrastructure for economic growth is urgent. Projects need to get off the ground so that life can flow back into our society.”
Lutchman says Saice and the wider civil engineering community is ready to play their part in ensuring strategic infrastructure projects are approached in a well-planned and prepared manner.