Infrastructure roll-out programme: Five SA projects presented to investors
6 November 2020
Source: the south african
Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu, on Thursday 5 November 2020, announced the outcomes of the Cabinet meeting held earlier this week. While he touched on many things, he made mention of a mass infrastructure roll-out programme that could possibly change the landscape of South Africa.
The Infrastructure South Africa Project Preparation Roundtable and Marketplace held in Midrand, Gauteng from 3 to 4 November 2020 takes forward the infrastructure roll-out programme. Both President Cyril Ramaphosa and Public Works Minister Patricia De Lille were present.
LARGE-SCALE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS
The event showcased 27 large-scale infrastructure projects with a combined value of R210 billion to South African and international investors, including delegates of development finance institutions and multilateral development banks.
“The project preparation roundtable ensures that projects undergo intensive feasibility assessments and transaction advisory support that will make them investment-ready,” Mthembu said.
The projects presented to investors include;
- The Nggura-Coega liquefied natural gas terminal in the Eastern Cape;
- The Social Housing Regulatory Authority’s Social Housing Programme;
- A jet fuel pipeline at the Cape Town International Airport;
- A space infrastructure hub to be established by the South African National Space Agency; and
- A science and technology park in Limpopo.
“These projects have the potential to employ a significant number of South Africans and form a vital component of the job-creation impetus of the South African National Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan recently unveiled by President Ramaphosa,” added Mthembu.
Cabinet welcomed the secondment by the private sector of 25 experts who will assist Infrastructure South Africa in bringing the planned projects to fruition.
The Infrastructure and Investment Office in The Presidency, will in the coming days, provide details of the commitments made by investors during this week’s roundtable and marketplace.
DE LILLE ON SETTING UP ANTI-CORRUPTION FORUM
Cabinet has also welcomed the announcement by De Lille that an infrastructure-focused anti-corruption structure will ensure the ethical management of infrastructure contracts.
On Tuesday at the roundtable, she said the Infrastructure Plan would be underpinned by an anti-corruption strategy and together with the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), they are in the process of setting up an anti-corruption forum with representatives from the public and private sector.
“We spend too much time finding out what went wrong afterwards with commissions and inquiries when we should be investing those scarce resources into project preparation now to prevent mistakes,” she said.
“As government we are showing that we are capable of turning the situation around by holding the corrupt and delinquent visibly accountable,” she added.