R21.7bn Airport Programme advances as Waterfall City breaks ground and SANRAL resets R9.5bn maintenance procurement. Large infrastructure projects and long-term investment plans dominated construction-related developments this week. Airports Company South Africa unveiled a R21.7 billion five-year investment programme covering major upgrades across six airports, while construction officially got underway on the R750 million Waterfall City…
According to Ratings Afrika’s latest Municipal Financial Stability Index,Drakenstein, Hessequa, Overstrand, Saldanha Bay and Swartland, are regarded as South Africa’s top run municipalities across the country. Good governance is increasingly becoming one of the strongest indicators of future construction activity in South Africa. Municipalities with sound financial management are generally better positioned to maintain infrastructure,…
Private sector building approvals weakened during May 2026, with approved floor area declining 13.8% year-on-year, driven largely by significant declines in the Western Cape and Gauteng, South Africa’s two largest building markets. While higher interest rates following the May SARB repo rate increase are likely to have added pressure to development activity, the slowdown was…
What is the Provincial Construction Pipeline? The Provincial Construction Pipeline Report was developed to provide an early indication of where construction activity is heading before those trends become visible in traditional economic statistics. By combining public-sector tenders, private-sector building approvals and major project announcements into a single provincial framework, the model provides a forward-looking measure…
Mpumalanga secures R7.2bn utility funding as Olifants Water Project reaches financial close Infrastructure funding dominated construction-related developments this week, with the approval of the World Bank’s R24.7 billion Development Policy Loan, the African Development Bank’s R7.2 billion Mpumalanga Municipal Utility Reform Programme, and further financial progress on the R25 billion Olifants Management Model Programme. Together,…
Construction mafia policy takes effect as Treasury moves against failing municipalities This week’s Construction Intelligence Brief explores one of the biggest challenges facing South Africa’s infrastructure sector: governance. National Treasury’s decision to temporarily withhold funding from 69 municipalities, the Auditor-General’s findings on municipal performance and government’s strengthened response to construction-related extortion all point to the…
SANRAL fuels Mpumalanga’s boom while rising costs squeeze contractors margins South Africa’s construction sector continues to build momentum, but the latest developments suggest that activity alone is no longer a reliable measure of industry health. Several indicators point to a market that is becoming considerably busier, supported by major road projects, industrial investment, growing work…
South Africa’s cement imports remained at historically elevated levels during the first five months of 2026, despite a moderation in import volumes during May. Total cement imports reached 599,641 tons by the end of May, representing a 12.0% increase compared with the same period in 2025. While May imports eased to 125,601 tons, down from…
The South African construction industry experienced a notable acceleration in input cost inflation during May 2026, with the Composite Construction Material Price Index increasing by 2.3% month-on-month and 8.4% year-on-year. This represents a sharp increase from the 4.5% annual inflation rate recorded in April, making May one of the strongest monthly accelerations in construction costs…
The June 2026 survey results found that material supplier selection is still driven primarily by established relationships and professional specifications rather than price alone. At the same time, contractors reported growing frustration over delayed contract awards, cash flow constraints and uncertainty around municipal infrastructure spending. While several multi-billion-rand infrastructure projects are expected to support future…
