Industry Matters
TRUST – BUILDING BLOCK
FOR THE INDUSTRY
A growing trust deficit between the government and the private sector threatens
to derail efforts to turn around the struggling construction sector.
G
The minister also confirmed that her focus currently is on
making the tender process more transparent and open.
She also says that until March 2020, the department will be
running 126 projects to the value of around R329-million
and all MBAWC members are encouraged to monitor
advertisements and tender notifications.
The Minister echoes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s
sentiments that projects need to move faster, confirming
that she is building a pool of engineers, project managers,
spatial planners and quantity surveyors in order to achieve
this goal. “This will result in the forming of a multi-
disciplinary action team that makes things happen faster
on the ground by evaluating and assessing every single
infrastructure plan, including budgets and timelines, while
making sure that no proposed project is accepted if it is not
properly prepared and tender ready,” Minister De Lille says.
“We are living in trying times of economic uncertainty
and can only appeal to government for a message of hope
to be turned into a reality. Together with our industry
partners, we, at the Association, need government to know
that we are ready, willing and able to build this country
into the magnificent splendour we know it can be. Now
more than ever, we need to stand together and support
one another as we fight to survive the current economic
climate,” says president, Roy Hendricks. RACA
overnment, however, is intensifying its efforts to
build meaningful relationships with the industry,
says Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure,
Patricia de Lille.
The leadership of the Master Builders Association of the
Western Cape (MBAWC) echoes the minister’s sentiment
on the need for strong public-private partnerships and they
remain positive about the industry’s prospects.
Minister De Lille acknowledged the downturn in the
construction industry but urged the sector to welcome
government’s much-touted R100-billion infrastructure
development fund announced during the State of the
Nation Address in 2019, which she said will be ramped up
alongside a drive to stamp out corruption and sharpen the
technical capacity of government.
Referring to insights gained from the World Economic
Forum (WEF) on Africa, Minister De Lille stressed that the
gap in trust between the private sector and government
needed to be addressed saying partnerships are crucial
because government cannot do it alone.
The minister made it clear that she was aware of fraud
and corruption in her department and announced that she
was working with the Special Investigation Unit (SIU), the
Hawks, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), as well
as undertaking civil litigation, to clean out the rot.
www.hvacronline.co.za
RACA Journal I January 2020
79