South Africa’s Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has been tasked to attract private sector investment to fund the rollout of some 12 priority infrastructure projects unveiled by the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium of South Africa held in Cape Town last week. Bernice Swartz, Deputy Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, South Africa, gave her insights on the 12 priority projects and how the department will attract private investors to speed up the rollout of these projects, in an exclusive interview with Energy Capital & Power.
Which projects are the Department prioritizing to ensure the growth of the economy is inclusive?
Energy security remains one of the Department’s priorities with several renewable energy projects being deployed to secure the country’s grid network and to create jobs. Our subsidiary Infrastructure South Africa (ISA) is helping to coordinate energy policies, including for green hydrogen projects. Energy and the energy transition is a focus throughout the world, and we are all trying to make sure that we on-par with our obligations. In South Africa a just transition is not something that will happen overnight. Hundred thousand mine workers depend on the hydrocarbons sector, for example, and we can’t immediately switch from coal to clean energy, which is why this is a focus for us.
What strategies is the Ministry employing to guarantee maximum involvement of women across the entire spectrum of infrastructure development?
We launched a program in which we want to increase the number of women in the construction industry, which is rather low at the moment. We guide females through the onboarding process and introduce them to the work environment. We have a quota of 40% women at the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and that is why there is a lot of discussions about public private partnerships at SIDSSA 2024. When the private sector comes onboard and invests money, we are not going to leave women behind because we want female and emerging contractors to play a crucial role in advancing South Africa. We have also partnered with the University of Johannesburg to develop a skills center targeting female empowerment at the tertiary institution.
What role will the private sector play in helping South Africa meet its rollout targets for the 12 priority projects announced by President Ramaphosa during SIDSSA 2024?
The private sector is very important because the government doesn’t have the budget to do it alone. ISA will coordinate with private sector investors and bring them onboard. The build-operate-transfer and the renovate-operate-transfer programs will become very important, as well as the private-public partnership model. These concepts are not new in South Africa, and have examples of them already working and ready to be replicated. We signed an MOU with the UK, which will help us train and up-skill our staff and ensure we operate in line with international best standards in governance and integrity. This will encourage the private sector to invest here.
