Gauteng Business 2020/21 edition

SPECIAL FEATURE
Spatial planning and infrastructure
underpin Gauteng’s growth plans
GDP growth is directly related to infrastructure investment.
Credit: Coega Development Corporation
Infrastructure spending and areas dedicated to
specific kinds of manufacturing are intended
to drive economic growth in the Gauteng
Province.
Both concepts fall within broader national plans
to boost industrialisation through various kinds of
Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and infrastructural
initiatives. A number of national and provincial
planning frameworks inform the planning of
Gauteng’s economic future. These include the
National Development Plan, Growing Gauteng
Together (GGT 2030), Gauteng 2055 Vision and
the City of Johannesburg’s Growth Development
Strategy and Spatial Development Framework.
The Gauteng Provincial Government will
spend R60-billion on building and maintaining
infrastructure in the five years to 2025. The
provincial authorities further estimate that about
R100-billion will be spent on infrastructure
projects in the province by a variety of stateowned
enterprises (SOEs) and national
departments in the next decade. The overall
estimate for the injection of capital related to
infrastructure, including private initiatives, is
calculated at R760-billion in the period to 2030.
A 15-year Gauteng Infrastructure Master
Plan has been adopted but multiple sources
of funding are needed for the plan to succeed
in areas such as the provision of water,
logistics, broadband connectivity, public
transport, energy and the reshaping of cities to
accommodate citizens in a better way than was
the case under apartheid. A World Bank report
has shown that a 10% increase in infrastructure
spending results in a 1% growth in GDP.
Gauteng began laying the groundwork for
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