South African infrastructure condition – an opinion survey for the SAICE infrastructure report card

Abstract

The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) Infrastructure Report Cards of 2006, 2011 and 2017 reported that much of the South African infrastructure is in a poor condition. To augment the recent 2017 Report Card, a survey was, for the first time, conducted amongst SAICE members to obtain their opinion on the condition of infrastructure (in terms of a grading), the trend of the condition over time, as well as the reasons for the individual’s grading. The 669 respondents indicated that, apart from a few exceptions such as national airports and the Gautrain, much of the infrastructure is in a poor state, which is very similar to the results obtained from the SAICE Report Card process. The results were also analysed per province and indicated that, in the opinion of respondents, specific provinces in particular are struggling with poor infrastructure. The main reasons given for the poor infrastructure were a lack of maintenance, lack of institutional capability, lack of sufficient funding and over-loading of infrastructure.