BUSINESS
The real cost of capital had increased
by 100% since Gill Marcus, previous
governor at the SA Reserve Bank, retired,
he said. The best performers during the
first quarter of 2019 were the values
of building plans passed and buildings
completed, when compared with the last
quarter of 2018.
Compared with the same quarter last
year, the best performers were buildings
completed and building material sales,
while the other six indicators recorded
declines, although this was not unexpected
due to the traditional spike in construction
activity in the second half of each year.
Factors that contributed to the low level
of activity in the sector in the first quarter
included fiscal restraint due to slowing
tax revenues and the need to curtail the
growth of public debt, uncertainty over land
expropriation without compensation, less
efficiency among public sector agencies
and government departments ahead of the
elections, as well as high levels of crime
being experienced at building sites.
He said a welcome development for
construction activity in Gauteng was
an announcement by Transnet that a
concession would soon be awarded for
a public-private partnership to build and
30
OCTOBER 2019
The construction industry in South Africa
has been under considerable pressure for
some time.
operate a R2.5-billion inland container
terminal.
The terminal would be built on 607
hectares near Vosloorus, and it was
expected to catalyse a further R20-billion
of further logistics-related investments
over 15 years, while the Gauteng provincial
government would spend an additional
R6.5-billion to strengthen the road
infrastructure around the Tambo Springs
Logistics Gateway.
SA’s road maintenance
backlogs
At another event, Professor Don Ross
and Matthew Townshend from the
University of Cape Town revealed the
alarming state of South Africa’s paved
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