SPECIAL FEATURETime for action on infrastructureIt’s rolling up the sleeves time for South Africa as work is underway to fix andupgrade existing facilities and invest in new infrastructure in order to stimulateeconomic growth.President Ramaphosa is invested in improving infrastructure.Such is the importance attached toinfrastructure in South Africa that a separatestructure called Infrastructure South Africa(ISA) has been created.ISA was established in 2020 and reports to thePresidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission,which is chaired by the President of South Africa,Cyril Ramaphosa. When one aspect of the country’sinfrastructure was threatening the country’s security,it was a measure of the respect that the President hasfor the man who was then in charge of ISA, KgosientsoRamokgopa, that he was then capped in a new post,that of Minister of Electricity and Energy.ISA acts as an infrastructure centre of excellenceand provides a single point of entry for infrastructureplanning, management and delivery. Part of itsbrief is to be a catalyst for closing the infrastructureinvestment gap.The biggest event in ISA’s calendar isthe Sustainable Infrastructure DevelopmentSymposium of South Africa (SIDSSA). Ahighlight of the 2024 symposium, the thirdholding of the event, was the first publicationand release by ISA of a construction bookwhich lists all the infrastructure projects tobe initiated by government and state-ownedcompanies (SOC) during the 2024/25 fiscal year.The book allows for informed decision-makingfor relevant companies.A total of 153 projects representing a totalcapital expenditure of R158.5-billion across thetransport, electricity, water and port-logisticssectors were covered. In the context of thesummit, President Ramaphosa said, “Meaningfulinfrastructure [investment] would have thepotential to strengthen the economy, bringingSOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 202528PHOTO: GCIS
SPECIAL FEATUREthe country a step closer to achieving the NDP’scommitment for the economy to attain 5.5% yearon-yeareconomic growth, a 6% unemployment rateand 30% gross fixed capital formation to GDP.”Other highlights of SIDSSA were the unveilingof the Infrastructure Fund Pipeline and updates onthe progress of the Strategic Integrated Projects asgazetted in 2020 and 2022.Private commitmentOne of the most interesting and consequentialaspects of the South African infrastructure landscapeis the commitment made by a large group of CEOsof the country’s biggest companies to contribute tofixing problems.The failure of the rail network to deliver miningproduct to ports, the failure of ports to deliver citrusand grapes in sufficient quantities and continuouspower failures that had become a feature of everySouth African’s life had reached a point wheresomething out of the ordinary had to be done.In 2023 the CEO Pledge was signed by about140 CEOs, a number which by 2024 had risen to160. Representing roughly R11-trillion in marketcapitalisation and with more than 1.36-millionemployees, these CEOs were not interested in virtuesignalling. Rather, working groups were establishedto work together with the state in three criticalareas: energy, transport and logistics and crime andcorruption. Reports to President Ramaphosa wouldbe made on a regular basis.A year into the project, a good deal hadbeen achieved, as Steuart Pennington of www.sagoodnews.co.za discovered when he spoke toMxolisi Mgojo, a former CEO of mining companyExxaro. Among the wins are increased electricitygeneration, reduced loadshedding to the pointwhere citizens were no longer counting the dayssince the last time the lights went off, improvedvolumes through ports and fewer incidents of crimeon the northern railway network. Power facilities werereceiving help from 17 different private companies atpower stations and 350 private-sector experts wereengaged across the three areas of engagement. Withproblems in the water sector becoming more acuteas 2024 drew to a close, there was some discussionabout whether the CEO Pledge would expand itsoperations to include water.ISA Top 12 priority projects:• Healthcare Infrastructure Programme (national)• Education Infrastructure Programme (national)• Ngqura Port Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), Eastern Cape, pictured• Project Ukuvuselela (high-capacity rail for automotive sector),Gauteng- Eastern Cape• Amatola Bulk Water Augmentation, Eastern Cape• Nkomazi Special Economic Zone, Mpumalanga• Namakwa Special Economic Zone, Northern Cape• Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Import Terminal (Richards Bay),KwaZulu-Natal• Durban Container Terminal (DCT) Pier 1, KwaZulu-Natal• Eskom Tubatse Pumped Storage Scheme, Limpopo• Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Works Phase 2, Gauteng• Reinstatement of Mossel Bay GTL Refinery, Western CapeFinancing infrastructureThe Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) cameinto being at the COP26 Climate Summit in 2021where South Africa and France, Germany, the UK, theUS and the EU agreed that funds would be madeavailable to assist South Africa to transition from beingfossil-fuel dependent in a just manner.South Africa has put forward an Energy TransitionInvestment Plan (JET IP) for the five-year period to2027, setting out details of what needs to be done andat what rate it should be done to reduce greenhousegas emissions. About R150-billion has beenpledged, much of which will be devoted to buildingtransmission capacity so that any energy generated byrenewable sources is able to be dispatched.In addition to the government-to-governmentfunding, infrastructure financing is attracting increasinginterest from fund managers and corporates.PHOTO: Dominic Bonnesse Architects29 SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2025
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