Infrastructure development is a critical priority for South Africa’s growth and economic prosperity. Focus by government in this sector creates significant opportunity.
Major projects like renewable energy initiatives and infrastructure upgrades by the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) and Transnet, as well as Gautrain expansions, are driving economic growth and create additional momentum to economic prosperity.
However, shortages of skilled labour often do cause delays in the timely delivery of these high-priority projects. Partnering with a strategic turnkey employment solutions provider enables access to the critical and specialised skills required, through a scalable workforce that also reduces costs. This is pivotal in ensuring projects are delivered on time to drive South Africa’s infrastructure and economic development.
The emphasis on sustainable development is driving a surge in infrastructure projects across South Africa. This includes many renewable energy projects, including wind and solar, especially in the Northern Cape region.
Highly welcomed news is Sanral’s awarding road construction contracts worth R18 billion over the last three months, and Transnet working to rehabilitate the passenger rail network. Transnet’s plans to address port inefficiencies by improving operational efficiencies through new equipment and systems to reduce congestion is also encouraging.
The company stated it is seeking private partners for the Durban and Ngqura container terminals.
The Gautrain Management Agency (GMA) is in the “advanced stages” of finalising a massive expansion project that will nearly triple the size of the Gautrain network from 80 km to 230 km. Government is also upscaling the Welisizwe Rural Bridges Programme to deliver 95 bridges per year to improve connectivity in rural areas.
This focus on infrastructure development creates significant opportunity, but the potential for growth could easily be reduced due to an inability to source and retain appropriate skills and resources.
In addition, the ongoing challenges of frequent load shedding cycles, increasing costs in labour and materials, and unpredictable logistics exacerbate the issue. Turnkey employment solutions providers offer numerous benefits to help offset these challenges.
Infrastructure projects require large numbers of workers, often on a fixed term basis rather than as permanent employment, which makes the administrative tasks surrounding the sourcing, vetting, hiring, and on-boarding a complex and time-consuming process.
The success of South Africa’s infrastructure growth and development initiatives depend on the ability to find and hire resources that ensure the appropriate skills matrix.
Turnkey employment service providers can prove to be invaluable in this regard, taking on the burden of the staffing function so that infrastructure developers can focus their time and energy on ensuring projects run on time and on budget.
- Maureen Phiri is the general manager sales at Oxyon People Solutions, an employment agency.
