State project coordination organisation Infrastructure South Africa (ISA) has released the third Construction Book, which includes 110 projects across six infrastructure sectors with a combined value of about R395-billion.

The Construction Book provides a detailed list of infrastructure projects that have allocated budgets and are expected to enter procurement and construction over the next 12 to 18 months.

The aim is to improve visibility of the country’s infrastructure pipeline and provide the construction industry with more useful and timely market information, the ISA says.

Highlights in this edition include the upgrade of national rail and rail container corridors and the procurement of a new concessionaire to operate the Gautrain system, as well as the Beitbridge Musina water transfer scheme.

The Sihamba Sonke Mobility (SSM) consortium was earlier this week appointed as operator of the Gautrain for the next 15 years and is expected to continue development of the Gautrain as a strategic provincial transport asset. SSM intends to invest in and modernise the Gautrain system.

In the water sector, 18 projects totalling R35-billion are listed, with projects including dams, water treatment plants, wastewater treatment facilities, irrigation systems, reservoirs and pipelines.

In the transport sector, 41 projects totalling R81-billion are listed, while 29 projects worth about R86-billion are listed in the energy sector, including the Aries-Aggenys 400 kV transmission line in the Northern Cape and the refurbishment of the main plant at Steenbras in the Western Cape.

The Construction Book also includes 16 social infrastructure projects with a combined value of R52-billion.

These include work on the Tygerberg and Belhar hospitals in the Western Cape, the development of Durban Film City, the modernisation of the Joburg Fresh Produce Market and the construction of new hospitals in Soweto, Ga-Rankuwa, Limpopo and the Western Cape, the ISA says.

Further, the Construction Book inventory includes ten municipal projects valued at about R112-billion in metros including Polokwane, eThekwini, Johannesburg and Mogale City.

It also includes three significant digital infrastructure projects valued at about R28-billion, including investments associated with the MeerKAT radio astronomy project and the SAeX East Subsea Fibre-Optic Cable.

Meanwhile, for the first time, the Construction Book also includes public-private partnership projects.

“The Construction Book will complement formal procurement platforms, such as the National Treasury’s eTender Portal. Our intention is to create a clearer line of sight between the forward infrastructure pipeline and the tenders that subsequently enter the market,” says ISA head Mameetse Masemola.

“This enables contractors, professional service providers, suppliers and financiers to plan and position themselves earlier.”

The ISA will continue working to ensure the Construction Book serves as a trusted source of information on the infrastructure pipeline, and will progressively move towards more regular and timely reporting on projects coming to market, she adds.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, during the sixth Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa, in August, said project preparation, which had once been a stumbling block in the way of critical infrastructure development, had been significantly improved in South Africa, thereby paving the way for the faster implementation of Strategic Integrated Projects (SIP).

“Our infrastructure system was too fragmented, which caused delays and escalating costs, and there were too many projects that did not progress. That gave rise to the reform processes through which we have strengthened coordination through the Infrastructure Development Act and the work of the ISA to help prepare and advance the SIP pipeline.

“The ISA identifies blockages and brings the relevant institutions together to solve them,” Ramaphosa said.