THE GOVERNMENT has reiterated an often-made pledge to build infrastructure, with Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana saying the adjusted fiscal framework in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) had made provision for recovery and rebuilding following massive flood damage in April.
The government, over successive National Budget annual presentations, has promised growth in infrastructure spending as a way to boost economic growth, but construction and engineering companies and financiers, over many years now, have reported no change from the trend of declining state infrastructure investment.
Hence, Business Unity South Africa said yesterday, in response to the MBPS, that while they welcomed the increase in infrastructure budgets, “there must be a total focus on identifying a limited number of infrastructure projects that are economically and socially impactful and the ability to implement…