Estimated Civil Tender Values: February 2025 Despite major infrastructure investment plans and early signs of recovery in the construction sector, civil tender activity remains sluggish following the May 2 Despite major infrastructure investment plans and early signs of recovery in the construction sector, civil tender activity remains sluggish following the May 2024 elections. A 20%…
The February 2025 report highlights a sharp decline in South Africa’s public sector building tender values, which fell by 68.7% year-on-year in February 2025, after a brief recovery in December 2024 and January 2025. The total public sector tender values for the past 12 months dropped by 34%, with Limpopo, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal having…
Slow recovery in private sector building demand, off dismally low levels, offset by weaker civil construction tendering activity. The February 2025 Construction Monitor highlights South Africa’s construction sector as facing ongoing economic and fiscal pressures, with modest growth, weak investment, and delayed public projects posing risks to recovery. While some progress is being made through…
Consumer inflation was unchanged at 3.2% in February 2025, despite an acceleration in government controlled prices (administered prices) to 4.2%. CPI excluding government prices, slowed to 3.1%, from 3.2% (Jan-25). Water and Electricity prices have for example consistently increased above the target range, leaving consumers and businesses to carry the burden of absorbing these higher…
“Building Delays, Budget Chaos—Yet Billions in Projects Move Forward!” While the value of civil projects awarded surged by more than 200 percent y-y in February 2025, delays in public sector payments and budget approvals are creating cash flow challenges for contractors. Many have faced payment backlogs since October 2024, leading to project suspensions and financial…
What to expect in this report: This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the South African construction industry’s outlook for 2025 and 2026, highlighting both opportunities and challenges shaping the sector. It begins with an economic overview, examining global and domestic factors influencing construction activity, including GDP growth forecasts, inflation trends, interest rates, and investment…
South Africa’s construction sector faced significant challenges in 2024, with weak economic growth, declining investment, and historically low project approvals. However, Q3 2024 showed early signs of recovery, with increased turnover and employment gains. While policy uncertainty continues to weigh on private sector investment, new public-private partnership regulations and infrastructure reforms aim to unlock growth….
The nominal value of building approvals continued on the more positive trajectory, with a more robust performance by the residential market for the month of December. Overall approvals however contracted by R3bn in 2024 to R98bn, but some provinces have outpaced the average. The strongest increase was reported in Kwazulu Natal, where approvals rose by…
In the fourth quarter of 2024, South Africa’s unemployment rate decreased to 31.9%, supported by Northern Cape, Kwazulu Natal, Mpumalanga and moderate improvements in Limpopo, and the Eastern Cape. The unemployment rate in the Western Cape was unchanged at 19.6 percent. The unemployment rate in the North West rose by 4.5 percentage points to 41.3…
Average house prices in South Africa reached 3.3 percent y-y in September 2024 (latest available data from Stats SA), showing the strongest annual increase since December 2022 (3.5 percent). September 2024 also saw the first cut in the prime lending rate to 11.5 percent, with two more 25 basis point cuts announced since then, that…
