President Cyril Ramaphosa has reaffirmed South Africa’s commitment to infrastructure development as a central pillar of economic growth and social upliftment.

During his address at the 2025 Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa (SIDSSA) on Tuesday, Ramaphosa emphasised the nation’s achievements and outlined strategic plans to enhance infrastructure investment, aiming to unlock South Africa’s full development potential.

Ramaphosa pointed to the growing pipeline of Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs), stating: “The capital value of the Strategic Integrated Projects has grown from an initial R340 billion in 2020 to over R1.3 trillion in 2025.”

He said this massive pipeline is driven by strong public and private investment, aimed at stimulating inclusive growth, reducing inequality, and preparing the country for the African Continental Free Trade Area.

“Infrastructure is the flywheel that our economy needs to boost growth and to create jobs,” Ramaphosa said, highlighting the central role infrastructure plays in the country’s economic recovery.

He noted that public infrastructure investment over the next three years will exceed R1 trillion. The 2024/2025 Construction Book, released by Infrastructure South Africa, includes “around 250 construction projects with an estimated value of more than R238 billion,” marking the largest ever investment of this kind in South Africa.

These projects encompass various sectors, including roads, energy, water, logistics, and social infrastructure.

Ramaphosa stressed the need to mobilise private capital through improved public-private partnerships.

He said: “Some of the reforms we are focusing on will make it easier for public-private partnerships under the value of R2 billion to gain approval.”

He said these reforms are designed to reduce procedural complexity, make infrastructure delivery faster and more predictable, and provide investors with long-term certainty.

Highlighting the role of Infrastructure South Africa (ISA), Ramphosa said: “Over the last five years, more than three-quarters of all requests to Infrastructure South Africa to unlock permits, authorisations and licences were successfully resolved.”

“When Infrastructure South Africa is involved, it takes just 85 days on average for permits, licences and approvals to be issued by regulatory entities.”

Ramaphosa cited successful completed projects such as “the Hazelmere Dam wall raising project in KwaZulu-Natal”, which has increased water security, and “the 100 MW Redstone Concentrated Solar Power Plant near Postmasburg in the Northern Cape,” which he said “now supplies clean energy to more than 400,000 people a day and to over 100,000 households each year.”

He also highlighted the Infrastructure Fund, stating: “Since its inception, the fund has packaged around 26 blended finance projects across several sectors, with a capital value of approximately R102 billion.”

“Through this model, we are de-risking projects and unlocking capital from pension funds, commercial banks and international financiers.”

Turning to continental cooperation, he praised the work of the SIDSSA Leaders Forum, saying: “By bringing together our collective expertise and political will, we strengthen the foundations for inclusive and sustainable growth across Africa.”

He urged continued focus on infrastructure-led development, stating: “We must place infrastructure at the heart of our development agenda, not only as a tool for economic growth and social development, but as a symbol of our great ambition and our hope for a better future.”

hope.ntanzi@iol.co.za 

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