The South African Institution of Civil Engineering SAICE Infrastructure Report Card 2022

The South African Institution of Civil Engineering SAICE is pleased to announce the launch of their latest SAICE Infrastructure Report Card 2022 IRC on 11 November 2022.

The full version of this IRC is freely available for download from the SAICE website on the link: https://saice.org.za/irc/

Also you can watch the launch event video on the link: https://youtu.be/4p8YygE-i1c

Below is a response to the Frequently Asked Questions FAQ we have been asked by the public media.

1.???What is the Infrastructure Report Card IRC?

The IRC is a well-researched report by SAICE:

• We look at the current condition of existing infrastructure, together with the impact that condition has on service delivery,
• We look at its effect upon the quality of life and economic development of the nation, and
• We look at the need for adequate maintenance and repair.

We also examine the factors that led directly to the infrastructure being in the condition that it is.

Equally important are the upward or downward trends in that condition and understanding the factors contributing to those trends.

2.???What are the key components in Infrastructure Report Card?

There are four sections in the IRC.

Section A is the Scorecard itself which presents the scores and commentary for the 12 sectors; 32 subsectors we have graded

Section B looks at the Infrastructure as The Public Asset. Responsibility, investment, preservation, opportunities, climate change and environmental factors and user behaviour impacts

Section C looks at matters of critical importance. People and relationships, institutional robustness, data management & infrastructure monitoring and reasons for optimism

Section D are the detailed sector reports

3.???What is the difference between social and economic infrastructure?

The Economic infrastructure, is that which makes business activity possible and includes sectors like bulk transport, communication and energy supply.

And then Social infrastructure is that which meets basic needs like drinking water, sanitation, hospitals, schools and public transport.

Clearly without adequate economic infrastructure, businesses cannot function properly which impacts negatively on the country’s economic sustainability, but also it impacts drastically on unemployment, which is already high.

Inadequate social infrastructure impacts negatively on the well-being, the health and quality of life of the community at every level.

4.???What can government do to improve the country’s infrastructure rating?

This is not an easy fix.

• We need to increase the investment in infrastructure from 13.7% of GDP in 2020 to at least 30% by 2030.
• We need to reduce habitual underspending of infrastructure budgets by those public service providers who are “not held accountable, prone to service delivery failures, poor governance, weak institutional capacity, and instability”.
• We need to introduce revised procurement regulations to minimise the recurring “revenue management failures”.
• We need to sensitize decision makers in national, provincial and local government infrastructure departments and SOCs of the importance of economic and social infrastructure and of its deteriorating condition. In particular, alerting them of the dire consequences that occur when the maintenance of infrastructure is neglected and renewal or replacement thereof is delayed.
• We need to provide assistance to the decision makers and their support teams in the built environment. We need to persuade them about the importance of maintenance and life cycle planning, and to provide guidance on remedial activities.
• We need to encourage the decision makers to enhance the capacity within their infrastructure departments by highlighting the role of the civil engineering profession in service delivery through the planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance of infrastructure.

5.???What has led to a near collapse state?

Actually South Africa’s economic infrastructure remains in a satisfactory condition except for ESKOM energy generation. However, our social infrastructure continues to deteriorate.

• The most persistent problem are the under-funded, weak public service institutions that lack appropriate technical decision-making skills. This has led to the neglect of planned new infrastructure and maintenance of existing. We have found that the majority of municipalities, a few provincial owners of infrastructure and SOCs continue to “maintain” their infrastructure by a “knee-jerk” response to call outs for breakdowns or failures.
• Poor end-user behaviour also impacts on the serviceability of infrastructure through theft of materials and vandalism. Addressing the damage that causes diverts limited funds from the planned maintenance.
• Increasing culture of non-payment for services cripples the municipalities’ ability to fund maintenance.
• Also there are external factors which are outside the control of the State, namely the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change which have also impacted on the condition of infrastructure.

6.???What were some of the adverse findings around SA’s infrastructure which have contributed to a ‘D’ rating and what the study looked at?

The IRC scorecard is based on a simple 5-point scale ranging from:

A: World Class; B: Fit for the Future; C: Satisfactory for Now;

D: At Risk of Failure; E: Unfit for Purpose

No single sector of infrastructure operates in isolation. Our energy generation requires water for cooling and our ports require roads and rail links to serve the economy. So, while we grade sectors separately, there is a tightly woven interdependency between all of these facilities.

7.???Which areas of infrastructure are among the most negatively affected or damaged?

I would say the worst rated, namely (D- and E) on average are:

1. Provincial and municipal unpaved roads
2. Sanitation in rural areas
3. PRASA, and Transnet branch lines
4. Eskom electricity generation

All due to essentially the same challenges, namely:

• The neglect of infrastructure maintenance is the most persistent problem encountered in all our IRCs to date. We have found that the majority of provincial and municipalities and SOC owners of infrastructure continue to manage their assets by “knee-jerk” reactions responding to breakdowns or failures. There is no planned or scheduled maintenance.
• The end-user behaviour also impacts on the serviceability of infrastructure assets like theft of materials and vandalism.
• There are external factors which are outside the control of the State, namely the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change which have impacted on the condition of infrastructure.

8.???If not attended to what is the impact of having poor infrastructure as a country, perhaps from an economic and wellbeing perspective?

South Africa’s economic infrastructure remains in a satisfactory condition except for ESKOM energy generation. However, our social infrastructure continues to deteriorate. Under funded and weak public service institutions that lack appropriate technical decision-making skills as well as crime and non-payment for services have contributed towards a further decline in the overall condition.

Clearly without adequate economic infrastructure, businesses cannot function properly which impacts negatively on the country’s economic sustainability, but also it impacts drastically on unemployment, which is already high.

Inadequate social infrastructure impacts negatively on the well-being, the health and quality of life of the community at every level.

Water, sanitation, basic education, healthcare and public transport are all substandard right now.

So there can be little doubt of the importance of infrastructure to any meaningful renewal exercise in South Africa. And yet, as the low overall rating given in our IRC suggests, the dysfunctional problems remain across most sectors.

9.???Who is mainly to blame for the collapse of the country's infrastructure?

The provision of public infrastructure is a core responsibility of the State through all its levels of government.

However it’s also important to say that the current trend of theft of materials and vandalism by the end-user citizens also negatively influences the longevity of infrastructure.

The overall grade of D indicates that South Africa’s existing infrastructure, taken in aggregate, is unsatisfactory and generally at risk of failing to serve its purpose.

10.??Overall, how does SA fair among its peer countries when it comes to infrastructure?

This is difficult to respond to as the condition of infrastructure from one country to the next as it varies considerably, not to mention from one sector to the next.

The culture of research and production of IRCs is becoming more established in countries in Africa, South of the Sahara. (Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, DRC, Zimbabwe) and I would say on the whole we are still somewhat better that the average of these countries.

Clearly we need to make our national, provincial and local governments aware of the shortcomings in their decision making processes and capacitate them all to pay attention to the need to prioritise and budget for proper planning and design of our new infrastructure and proper scheduled maintenance of our existing infrastructure. Without that, the declining trends will sadly continue and we will fall behind our neighbours.