For most South Africans living in the country’s largest cities, the infrastructure backlogs are not only visible but painfully disruptive.
Driving without hitting a pothole has become a perilous art, as has navigating piecemeal water or electricity repairs where the resultant holes are left gaping for months, if not years. The stench of sewer leaks pollutes the air in many neighbourhoods, where water supply is also erratic and power cuts continue despite the official demise of loadshedding.
Given this poor state of affairs, residents and businesses are often only too grateful to see any visible sign of catch-up.
However, in a recent speech to the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa, Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis correctly highlighted the pitfalls associated with a mentality where addressing backlogs was viewed as an end in itself.
Even the record R12.3-billion spent by the City of Cape Town on infrastructure last year, described as the biggest investment yet by a city-government in South Africa, was in his view the minimum level for a city experiencing ongoing urbanisation pressures. “Even at those record levels of investment, we are only just keeping pace with the rapid growth of our city,” he acknowledged.
