INSIGHT
LIFTING SMMEs TO NEW HEIGHTS
By Willie de Jager
The development of a vibrant small, medium and micro enterprise( SMME) sector of the economy remains a high priority for the South African government.
President Cyril Ramaphosa reiterated the importance of SMMEs in his inaugural State of the Nation Address and also reaffirmed government’ s established view that the construction industry provided among the best available opportunities to develop this sector. It therefore committed to accelerating the roll-out of delayed civil infrastructure projects, with focus on critical water, health, and road maintenance related projects.
This is a decidedly positive announcement, especially for the country’ s many emerging contractors. Like their larger counterparts, they have felt the effects of a marked slow-down in government spending on civil engineering infrastructure. In addition to playing a critical role in transforming the South African construction sector, the emerging contracting fraternity can also be credited for being a large employer and provider of on-the-job training for so many unemployed members of poor communities.
This is especially the case on Expanded Public Works Programme( EPWP) projects, which have been designed to maximise job creation prospects, particularly for youth and women.
Just more than 10,5 % of people with a tertiary education and more than 20 % of those individuals with matric partake in these projects, as opposed to the almost 66 % of South Africans without a matric education who continue to benefit from the EPWP.
Through this programme, the Department of Public Works has created more than 700 000 job opportunities in the construction sector every year. This translates into an excess of 170 000 full-time equivalent opportunities, which is about 1 % of total construction employment. Total formal and informal employment in construction stands at under 1 400 000.
Corestruc and its sister company, Corehire, continue to work alongside many emerging contractors on a number of EPWP projects. They include municipal reservoir, sports complex, and recreational facilities, as well as schools and health care construction programmes.
While Corestruc designs, manufactures, and installs the precast concrete systems that have significantly accelerated and mitigated risk on many of these projects, Corehire provides the in-house capability that is needed to safely and efficiently lift and place the various elements that make up a precast concrete structure.
Moreover, they bring robust project management capabilities to the project that complement the expertise of the main contractors.
Corestruc
Due to a lack of resources, many managers in these firms also serve as site agents, contract managers, foremen or surveyors, significantly stretching existing capacities on construction sites. This is compounded by their large use of casual workers on these labour-intensive projects, who may not have the required skills and experience to complete the roof of a reservoir structure successfully— the most costly, complex, and time-consuming component of the entire works programme.
Meanwhile, Corestruc and Corehire’ s specialist skills and capabilities have also been deployed in the construction of precast concrete stadiums for sports and recreational facilities. These structures are installed in a few days, while emerging contractors forge ahead on the many other aspects of the mainly labour-based works programme to ensure timely completion of the project.
A dearth in skills in the industry has long been a major concern, and this has driven the uptake of hybrid-concrete construction techniques, which combine the best in labourbased in situ construction practices with precast concrete know-how.
As much as 70 % of the country’ s total construction workforce comprises semi- and low-skilled, as well as unskilled people, employed as trade workers, plant and machine operators and assemblers, while only about 28 % account for skilled employees, including managers, professionals, technicians, and associates.
Corestruc and Corehire’ s in-house skills and capabilities have also helped promote a safer construction site. This is considering that only skilled Corestruc installation teams work at heights, and they are complemented by Corehire’ s own well-maintained cranes, as well as seasoned riggers and experienced crane operators who assist in the safe handling of the heavy precast concrete elements. ■
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Willie de Jager is the managing director of Corestruc and Corehire, a fullservice heavylifting specialist. The company’ s rigging expertise has been deployed on an array of civil engineering as well as mechanical and electrical projects.
40
JUNE 2018