Senior government officials, construction leaders, professional bodies and infrastructure experts came together in Sandton today for the inaugural Unlocking Infrastructure Delivery event, with an urgent call for greater certainty, accountability and collaboration across South Africa’s infrastructure delivery chain.
The gathering comes just a day after the Constitutional Court struck down the Public Procurement Act, placing renewed focus on what the country’s future procurement framework should look like.
Hosted with the participation of Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson, the event brought together representatives from government, contractors, consultants, professional bodies and infrastructure institutions to confront persistent barriers to project delivery — from procurement and project preparation to funding, communication, disputes and payment.
“The industry knows where the problems are. The question is what we are prepared to do differently,” was the central message of the gathering, which deliberately moved beyond identifying failures towards practical solutions and potential industry-wide commitments. The event organisers said the objective is to leave with agreed deliverables and potentially a Memorandum of Understanding setting out commitments across the sector.
Among the issues debated were whether projects are sufficiently prepared before procurement, the appointment of appropriate professional teams, funding certainty, the role of public-private partnerships, faster dispute resolution, contractor payment, transformation and the need to address construction-site disruptions and safety.
The event brought together senior voices including Infrastructure South Africa Head Mameetse Masemola, CIDB CEO Bongani Dladla, Presidency Director of Strategy and Delivery Support Saul Musker, SAICE Advocacy Chairperson Wynand Dreyer, infrastructure procurement specialist Ron Watermeyer, and other industry leaders.
The organisers say the objective is not another industry discussion about problems already well documented, but to create a platform for government and the private sector to agree on what needs to change — and who needs to do what differently to get projects moving.
