JOHANNESBURG - South Africa needs urgent investment in critical infrastructure maintenance over the next four years.
National Planning Commissioner Sue Bannister has warned that poor maintenance is holding back service delivery.
The Commission hopes the issue will be addressed in Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s Budget Speech on Wednesday.
Speaking from a local government perspective, Bannister said infrastructure maintenance must be prioritised.
“We need to make sure that when we build infrastructure and that’s not the end, the end should be a series of maintenance contracts, where we shift from a more reactive to proactive asset management.”
“We have a culture of fixing things after they break, which is more expensive. We also must prioritise funding energy and logistics infrastructure because those are the binding constraints on our job creation.
"Municipal capability and in fact, capability everywhere must be a focus area for government,” Bannister emphasised.
Bannister added that government should invest in human capital by training more artisans, engineers and project managers.
“So, we don’t lack the plans. We lack execution excellence. The next four years are going to be a test of how the planning translates into something the citizens can feel.”