COMMENT
How drones can
boost investment
I
n the lead-up to this month’s
elections, the performance of the civil
construction sector in South Africa
has continued to go from bad to
worse with the demise of another big
construction company, and confidence
has hit a record low.
According to the FNB/BER Civil
Confidence Index, the drop in
confidence can be explained by a
further slowdown in activity growth
from already depressed levels. This, in
turn, has impacted profitability, and it’s
not surprising that the prospects for
work are downbeat, given the state of
the fiscus and the resultant reduction
in infrastructure investment by the
public sector.
But if we turn back the clock to
the end of 2018, Gauteng MEC for
Infrastructure Development, Jacob
Mamabolo, was already questioning why
government’s spend on infrastructure
was failing to lift confidence in the
embattled construction sector, citing
concerns about effective progress
monitoring and accountability. In line
with government’s plan to revive the
sector and the economy through
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s stimulus
package, Gauteng had a pipeline of
340 projects to implement over the
next three years to the value of R4.5-
billion, including hospitals, schools, and
government buildings.
The promise of investment can’t
be embraced by low confidence, so
perhaps we need to change tack. Maybe
the afflicted should stop focusing on
inefficiencies, and look at efficiencies?
Stop lamenting the state of the industry,
and focus on what can be done — on
necessary game-changers? Mamabolo
says, “The problem is efficiency.
Investors find ‘black boxes’ where
they can’t see what’s going on. They
find Stone Age methods of delivery,
lack of transparency … they can’t see
where every rand is going.” Mamabolo
believes in transparent solutions and
www.plantonline.co.za
cites the drone system that Gauteng
has been using for almost a year to
monitor projects as an example of
the game-changer the infrastructure
industry sorely needs. Drone technology
is used to assess whether projects
are on time, within budget, and
built to the necessary quality levels.
While the department was previously
unable to monitor contractors on site
efficiently and officials were often
lied to and travelled long distances to
track projects, improved monitoring
and accuracy for reporting by drones
would make Gauteng an increasingly
attractive destination for investment
in the construction sector. We have
to appreciate that making ourselves
attractive for investment is key.
Internationally, drones are on the rise
in the construction sector, and a report
by investment bank Goldman Sachs in
as early as March 2016 predicted that
the largest use for commercial drones
in the immediate future would be in
construction. The bank said that drones
in all industries, including construction,
agriculture, and mining, can offer
improved accuracy, frequency, and
turnaround time.
Drone technology cannot be
underestimated and has the potential
to reshape expectations around how
organisations approach tasks that
range from inventory management
to predictive maintenance. But it’s
not enough to just talk about the
possibilities of this technology.
Stakeholders need to be able to quantify
the difference drones can make right
now, not only because of the need to
define an ROI, but also because doing
so lays the foundation of what that value
can look like at scale.
An example is the recent drone
inspection of the Salesforce Tower, a
1 070-foot (326m) office skyscraper
in the South of Market district of
downtown San Francisco, which
demonstrated this present and future
Tarren Bolton
[email protected]
value in an especially revealing manner.
Using a drone resulted in an inspection
process that took place over the course
of two weekends as opposed to four
to five months and could define a new
standard around how building and site
inspections should be approached.
Mamabolo agrees that stakeholders
are likely to first want to see the
technology work, and the reputation for
cost-efficiencies and time saving has
to be earned. He says that Gauteng is
willing to share its expertise at national
level — with other provinces and
municipal spheres of government—–
and in so doing, drone on for positive
change.
As always, I hope you find this issue
informative, interesting, and insightful.
If you have any comments, ideas ,or
suggestions on absolutely anything
industry-related, please email me at
[email protected].
MAY 2019
1