Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia De Lille says the country’s infrastructure investment plan will be under-pinned by an anti-corruption strategy.
De Lille was speaking at the start of the two day Infrastructure South Africa Project Preparation Roundtable and Market Place under-way in Midrand.
Government is currently rolling out 62 infrastructure projects in the areas of water, energy, digital, transport, human settlement, agriculture and agro-processing.
De Lille says all these projects will be subjected to independent due diligence to avoid the corruption.
Ramaphosa opens the ISA Project Preparation Roundtable and Market Place
Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on the public and private sectors to work together to complete infrastructure projects.
Ramaphosa was opening the Infrastructure South Africa, Project Preparation Event.
“Sometimes when you go around the country you will find projects that have been either stopped or abandoned because there was no proper planning or preparation. It is for that reason that we have brought many of you together, so that we can talk about these things and avoid such challenges in the future. There needs to be more coordinated engagement between government and the private sector when we come to the financing space. Our government is committed to financing the project preparation process.”
Let us forge a new path as partners committed to progress, implementation and growth for the economy and jobs through infrastructure investment and implementation.
— Patricia de Lille (@PatriciaDeLille) November 3, 2020
My message to the finance fraternity here today: Let us engage with the mindset to collaborate and implement so that we may together rise from the blow that COVID 19 has dealt to our path.
— Patricia de Lille (@PatriciaDeLille) November 3, 2020
We spend too much time finding out what went wrong afterwards with commissions and inquiries when we should be investing those scarce resources into project preparation now to prevent mistakes.
— Patricia de Lille (@PatriciaDeLille) November 3, 2020
The Infrastructure Plan will be underpinned by an anti-corruption strategy and together with the Special Investigating Unit, we are in the process of setting up an anti-corruption forum with representatives from the public and private sector.
— Patricia de Lille (@PatriciaDeLille) November 3, 2020
We are putting in all possible measures to mitigate against this as we implement the Plan, starting with the 62 Strategic Integrated Projects. All projects will all be subjected to an independent due diligence process as well.
— Patricia de Lille (@PatriciaDeLille) November 3, 2020
On the issue of corruption, to regain confidence of society and investors, we must show that government is capable of turning the tide. As government we are showing that we are capable of turning the situation around by holding the corrupt and delinquent visibly accountable.
— Patricia de Lille (@PatriciaDeLille) November 3, 2020
There are 3 elements of the project preparation cycle that are critical for success:
• an enabling environment conducive for project preparation;
• the long-term strategic planning and project prioritisation framework;
• and lastly the alternative financial & funding models— Patricia de Lille (@PatriciaDeLille) November 3, 2020
We also know that project preparation can cost anywhere between 2% and 15% of the project value depending on the function of complexity and size of the project.
— Patricia de Lille (@PatriciaDeLille) November 3, 2020