South African Business 2019 edition

OVERVIEW
Infrastructure spending has only slowed, not
dried up entirely. One province alone, Gauteng,
spent R30-billion on infrastructure between
2013 and 2016. A further R46-billion has been
pledged for the years to 2019. In addition,
Gauteng municipalities will spend R94-billion
over the next five years using their city budgets.
Some 31 major housing developments have
been approved for the various development
corridors around Johannesburg. These projects
will attract public and private money.
A study carried out by KMPG found that
spending on infrastructure resulted in additional
economic activity worth R26-billion and created
92 000 direct jobs. A major provincial infrastructure
project was the technically demanding
Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project, which
involved many companies and several joint ventures.
GOBA Consulting Engineers and Project
Managers supervised the design and construction
of the project, as it did the even bigger Vaal
River Eastern Subsystem Augmentation Project
(VRESAP). This water project entailed redirecting
water flows from one system to another to
feed the petrochemical and mining industries
of Mpumalanga.
The Renewable Energy Independent Power
Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP)
has created an entirely new industry in less than
seven years, with investment of about R200-
billion in solar parks and wind farms. This has
created huge opportunities for engineers of
every sort.
Two of the world’s largest coal-fired power
stations are still under construction in Limpopo
(Medupi) and Mpumalanga (Kusile) and there
are several coal and platinum projects in both
of those provinces that are also sources of work
for engineering companies. The Northern Cape
and North West are attracting new mines (zinc,
copper) or investments in new smelters and
processing facilities (platinum, manganese).
South Africa has one engineer to every 3 166
citizens, compared to Malaysia where the figure is
543 citizens per engineer. The Skills Development
Amendment Act is intended to improve the situation.
Universities, universities of technology and
TAKING THE INITIATIVE IS FAR BETTER
Maitazwifoma Engineering and Consulting
takes its name from the Tshivenda proverb
“Maitazwitoma hafani na madzulafhedzi”, which
means that an innovative person who takes
initiative is far better than one who is idle.
Scanning the list of services offered by
Maitazwifoma, it is easy to see that this is a
group of committed contractors, engineers and
plumbers who really want to work.
Services range from electrical, construction
and civil construction, to plumbing, road construction,
concrete coring and waterproofing.
The company is also available to provide cleaning
services, staff transport and general tasks
such as painting, paving, partitioning and rubble
removal.
With more than seven years of experience
in building expertise in a range of construction
and engineering disciplines, the leadership and
staff of Maitazwifoma are enthusiastic and
hard-working.
Clients include Attaq and Broll, WBHO
(Maitazwifoma were subcontractors on the
Newtown Junction Project), Jozi@Work, on
behalf of the City of Johannesburg and the
Johannesburg Development Agency.
91 SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2019