'Treasury flaw' puts brakes on building the economy
Mismanaged spending dooms construction industry, says engineer
The government's failure to plan, manage and execute infrastructure projects properly is harming the local construction industry and impeding economic growth, says the president of Consulting Engineers South Africa, Neresh Pather. "Construction is a clear indicator of the state of health of our economy," he says. And there's not much of it going on. The government is spending an average of R300-billion a year on infrastructure, which remains in a dire state. The survival of the construction sector is almost wholly dependent on this money being spent effectively, he says, but this is demonstrably not happening. Much of it is being wasted because of bad planning and a flawed procurement system. President Cyril Ramaphosa, who, in his state of the nation address, announced an economic advisory committee, needs to establish an infrastructure advisory committee alongside it, says Pather. "It should rank high up on the presidential agenda. We need an independent body advising the Presidenc...
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