The Civil Engineering Contractor April 2018 | Page 32

PROFILE
Delivering on promises
By Kim Kemp
Government needs to deliver on its many promises and build an environment that
supports investment and transformation, says Kostas Rontiris, CEO of SMEC.
The state of the
2018 economy
With continuing political and policy
uncertainty so far this year, the South
African economy is on shaky ground
in terms of growth. The South African
Reserve Bank has revised its forecast for
growth downwards to 1.2% for 2018,
which leaves little room for much-
needed infrastructure development
programmes, among other urgent
needs. Yet, the opportunity for the
private sector to innovate in the face
of government incapacity should not
be overlooked. The potential exists for
private business to be one of the key
drivers for training, job creation, and
upliftment for South Africans in need.
There is no denying that the country
needs to be freed from the constraints
of negative influences and to create a
government that is focused on governing.
Organisations can do much to help
South Africa back onto the path of
growth, by investing in their people and
leveraging diversity to create a fair and
equitable high-performing company.
Training and continuous professional
development of staff, and even clients’
employees, will ensure the sustainable
and meaningful empowerment of
previously disadvantaged individuals
within the built environment.
However, government needs to provide
the environment for such initiatives to
thrive, as without their buy-in, South
Africa will continue to flounder. The
delay experienced in the promulgation
of the B-BBEE Construction Sector
Code has generated a great deal of
uncertainty in the industry. The sector
code was finally gazetted in December
2017, just two weeks before the
building industry holidays. In addition,
the new procurement system, SIPDM,
30 - CEC April 2018
implemented by National Treasury,
which is mandatory for ‘Organs
of State’, has led to long delays in
project awards and even some project
cancellations.
Innovative business methods
According to Sebastien Dessus, World
Bank country programme leader:
“Innovation can help improve the lives
of the poor through the provision of
better and cheaper goods and services
and expanding economic opportunities
through the introduction of disruptive
technologies that can lower barriers to
competition.” The construction industry
can adapt new technologies that will
cut costs and reduce construction times
while still adhering to best practice and
safety regulations. An example of such
technologies would be the use of drones
to aid feasibility studies and monitor
construction sites.
Wearable smart sensors in workers’
boots, hard hats, and safety gear can
track the number of hours a worker is
on site and has the potential to boost
productivity on a construction site.
Mobile apps on smartphones or tablets
reduce paperwork and allow managers
to process their work on site as well as
calculate costs and monitor suppliers in
real time. SMEC South Africa already
employs drones and mobile apps in
many of the projects for which we are
responsible.
Industry needs change
The construction industry will only
survive if the government delivers
the simple promises made during
the numerous State of the Nation
Addresses over the past few years,
and delivers infrastructure and services
to the communities of South Africa
by having a definitive project pipeline
and budgets allocated to implement it,
which will result in continuity of work
for our industry.
The private sector will then join in,
either in the form of public-private
partnership projects or other forms
of partnership, to plan, design, and
build the much-needed infrastructure
that will ensure sustainable economic
growth and prosperity for the people of
South Africa.
Challenges within South
Africa’s infra sector
Ageing infrastructure, together with
a rapid urbanisation with younger
generations opting to live in the cities to
seek job opportunities, are the biggest
challenges facing our infrastructure
today. The skylines of our cities are
constantly changing as councils approve
more planning requests with ever-
increasing density developments. This
is creating unexpected or unplanned
increases in demand, which puts
additional pressures on our infrastructure
systems. This, together with the lack of
skills in various government structures,
often results in our infrastructure being
unable to maintain its effectiveness.
Poor planning, lack of maintenance of
existing infrastructure, and delays in
implementation of new infrastructure
projects exacerbate the lack of service
delivery.
Promotion of youth
in the sector
To address the lack of skills in our
industry, we need to look into the
future and focus on our youth and
how to best involve them in the
engineering industry. Fortunately, many
of our industry bodies, such as SAICE,