creamer media

While the construction sector remains a sizeable economic contributor and employment provider, it has been in a slump for the past seven years, not being able to recover to the growth levels in the build-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup – between 2004 and 2007 – when billions of rands were invested in projects related to the hosting of the soccer extravaganza. A contraction in construction-sector investment started in 2008, but the definitive turning point was in 2010, when investment plunged by 11.8% year-on-year. Since then, investment has not shown any significant growth in real terms, achieving an average yearly increase of just 0.2% between 2011 and 2013.

Creamer Media’s Construction 2015 Report examines South Africa’s construction industry over the past 12 months. The report provides insight into the business environment; the key participants in the sector; local construction demand; geographic diversification; corporate activity; black economic empowerment; competition in the sector; the sector’s shortage of skills, which threatens to derail government’s plans to spend R4-trillion on infrastructure over the next 15 years; safety, which was plagued by poor performance in 2013/14 financial year and environmental considerations.

This report is a summary of information published in Engineering News and Mining Weekly, as well as information available in the public domain and does not purport to provide an analysis of market trends.

Published on: 30 January 2015.