This week reminded me just how much the conversation around South Africa’s construction industry has changed.
A year or two ago, we were asking whether government was serious about infrastructure investment.
This week, National Treasury made infrastructure bonds a permanent funding mechanism, President Ramaphosa launched the National Water Action Plan, and Operation Vulindlela continued to push ahead with reforms. The commitment is slowly but surely becoming clearer. Then came PPC Cement’s latest results. The message was clear: the industry now needs projects, not just plans.
That, for me, was the real story of the week.
The funding mechanisms are improving. The policy direction is encouraging. Investment opportunities continue to emerge. Now comes the hard part. Turning those commitments into projects that are tendered, awarded and ultimately built.
