Roelof van den Berg | CEO | Gap Infrastructure Corporation | mail me |
As President Cyril Ramaphosa doubles down on the promise to turn South Africa into a ‘construction site’, one factor in the infrastructure development equation has become increasingly vital to government plans’ success. That factor is meaningful community-centred infrastructure development and involvement.
Notably, South Africa’s infrastructure development has seen strong growth over the past few years. More homes have been built in rural and urban areas every year. More people have received access to clean potable water and flushing toilets. Waste services have improved. Hundreds of kilometres of paved roads have been laid. Additionally, essential community buildings, hospitals, clinics and education centres have been built.
Communities shaping infrastructure
As government statistics reveal, 88.5% of South Africans now live in formal dwellings, with only 11.2% living in traditional or informal homes.
Over 60% of people reported satisfaction with public housing services. Meanwhile, in the past 10 years alone, 12 new hospitals have been built. The proportion of the population with no schooling reached a low of 7% in 2022. This was partly due to increased and improved educational facilities.
Additionally, five million subsidised housing opportunities were delivered to persons in need in the 30 years leading up to the 2022 census.
Community involvement as a lynchpin for success
As these figures demonstrate, laudable progress has been made. Progress is still being made to address the country’s urgent infrastructure priorities. However, challenges remain in closing the gaps in infrastructure and service delivery inherited by the nation’s democracy. These include ensuring that every household has access to piped running water, safe and dignified sanitation and proper waste management.
Furthermore, urban populations are expected to grow from 67.85% in 2021 to 71.3% by 2030. As a result, the pressure to deliver effective infrastructure solutions is only mounting.
But to successfully bridge the gap between technical planning and community needs – and to maximise citizen satisfaction – projects must actively involve communities from the outset.
Community involvement as a resource
In our experience, the most impactful projects coordinate early with communities and local authorities. Both communities and authorities possess valuable insights into each region’s concerns and dynamics.
For example, in places where road construction follows a purely technical approach, engineers might focus on vehicle traffic counts. This approach ignores the fact that many residents rely on walking or cycling to get around. By contrast, a community-minded process examines the actual footpaths children use to reach schools or clinics. It then integrates safe crossings, sidewalks and lighting.
In another example, when water infrastructure is built purely to meet set quotas such as laying out a certain number of pipelines, residents may end up with communal taps placed in inconvenient locations. Planners may also overlook where growth is likely to occur.
Instead, by placing taps closer to clusters of homes, planners can significantly improve the daily routines of households. Parents can fill containers without walking several kilometres. Children can spend less time hauling water and more time studying. Health risks tied to unclean water sources can also decrease considerably.
Closing the community infrastructure gap
So, as these examples demonstrate, communities not only deserve to be directly involved in decision-making regarding projects that affect their daily lives. They can also add very real value to the outcomes and results of these projects.
Here is where the private sector has the biggest role to play. Contractors and sub-contractors hold the responsibility to engage with and include residents throughout the project planning and implementation phases.
By recognising community as assets this approach also offers an important additional benefit. Communities that help shape projects feel motivated to take ownership of the resulting infrastructure. In turn, this encourages households and citizens to protect essential structures, rather than misuse or damage them. It also safeguards the longevity of infrastructure investments.
Ultimately, only by committing to community-centred infrastructure development can we finally and permanently close the gap in infrastructure. In doing so, we can make sure that infrastructure investment delivers on its promise to improve the daily lives of all South Africans.
