Appetite to implement megaprojects in South Africa

Abstract

South Africa battled with implementing transport and energy infrastructure post-apartheid. The current government had other priorities which included housing, water and sanitation and to a certain extent energy of the whole communities overlooked by the apartheid government. This emphasis meant that investment in transport and energy generation was neglected resulting in an infrastructure that was not coping and under capacitated. The study explored the appetite of implementing megaprojects focusing on transport and energy as a viable option to ease the pressure from the ailing infrastructure. It appears as if the approach to implementation of megaprojects has not been very successful post-apartheid. The motivation behind South Africa’s proclivity towards transport and energy megaprojects is pitted against the impact of these projects to the end users in relation to cost and benefit. A cross-sectional case study approach focusing on multiple cases, which are: Medupi and Kusile Power Stations and Gautrain were adopted in a quest to meet the objectives of the study. The mixed method approach to data collection and analysis has been adopted to realize the research objectives and resolve the research question. Key data collection instruments included surveys directed at the end users, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews directed at professionals and students within the transport and energy sector and school of The Built Environment respectively, questionnaires directed at organisations representing workers within the transport and energy sector. The study found that the transport and energy megaprojects are not always well planned and executed, mainly due to lack of skills and funding. The study further found amongst others that the transport and energy megaprojects have a negative financial outlook on the country’s development. The study recommends that reasonably scaled, manageable and responsive transport and energy projects be investigated and possibly adopted to ensuring better planning and execution, which will then enhance skills development and foreign Direct investment funding. The report is presented in a linear analytical format from the analysed data where emerging themes and have been coded for a comparative report. The report is concluded by the research findings and areas for future research are also highlighted