KPMG - 2016 SONA : Infrastructure Investment Siyanda Ralane Consultant at KPMG2016-02-18 Though South Africa is facing its worst drought since 1982, it was surprising that the topic of infrastructure investment, with particular focus on water was not highlighted. Instead, the tone of Thursday night's SONA speech was structured to quell the turmoil around the South African economy's position, aimed to inspire investor confidence that it indeed is part of the executive cabinet agenda.
The President briefly touched on water infrastructure being a critical focus, without expanding on the approach to be taken, instead highlighting short-term relief projects currently in-flight, like Operation Hydrate. The water infrastructure projects mentioned were:
In the upcoming budget speech, there will hopefully be more emphasis made on water infrastructure development. The government media statement on the water scarcity and drought on 13 Nov 2015 highlighted four dams at critical levels;Hazelmere, Goedetrouw, Hluhluwe and Klipfontein Dam. It will be critical to get a view on planned expenditure on infrastructure and the selected performance indicators. |
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