Sona: Cesa calls on the SA government to commit to a hike in infrastructure spending

CONSULTING Engineers South Africa (Cesa) yesterday called on the government to commit to increased and informed spending on infrastructure as a key economic driver ahead of the State of the Nation Address (Sona) this month.

Olu Soluade, president of Cesa, as he presented his theme “Make a Difference by Collaborating for Change” for 2023 at its presidential media address yesterday, said the government needed to overcome the current supply chain and procurement issues as well as the skills challenges the country faced. He said: “The pace at which this is happening needs to be accelerated when one considers the urgency needed.”

Soluade added: “Cesa’s hope is that with the government’s focus on professionalising the State that we will start to see the right people with the requisite skills, experience and competencies being placed in key positions to ensure that money is spent in a cost-effective manner for both the social and economic benefit of the people of our country.” Through industry collaboration Cesa said it was involved in the compilation of the new Public Procurement Bill that was due to go before Parliament in the near future. The bill promised to ensure that the procurement of infrastructure was treated differently from that of general goods and services.