At the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium (SIDSSA), President Cyril Ramaphosa and Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis delivered a surprisingly unified message: South Africa’s capital is abundant, but properly packaged projects are scarce.
Hill-Lewis called for metros to spend R10-billion to R15-billion annually on infrastructure just to keep pace with growth. Ramaphosa stressed converting plans into real construction to drive the economy. How have you seen municipal infrastructure maintenance (or the lack of it) directly impact your daily life or local business?
One appreciates that it is a privilege living in Cape Town when one reads the unacceptable conditions that prevail in the other eight provinces with few exceptions.
It is a great privilege to be able to vote for transport in this poll. In Cape Town, the rest of the infrastructure is in good condition and maintenance has been the main interrupter over the last couple of years. I would love for South Africa to have pedestrian friendly sidewalks, bridges, busses, and trains to help us get where we need to go safely, as well as avoid the obesity epidemic plaguing the US. But I understand that in other parts of the country, this isn’t even in the top 5 right now.
Water & sanitation pipeline upgrades
Grid reliability & renewables
Rail & public transport expansion
Road repair & maintenance