Minister Dean Macpherson outlines infrastructure pipeline and municipal delivery priorities at SIDSSA 2026
- Public Works & Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson outlined progress in expanding South Africa’s infrastructure pipeline, with 37 projects worth approximately R69 billion completed and 82 projects worth R502.7 billion currently under construction.
- The Minister said Infrastructure South Africa has committed R131 million to municipal infrastructure support and is helping municipalities prepare projects that could unlock approximately R7 billion in water, sanitation, energy and waste-management investment.
- He emphasised the need to turn infrastructure commitments into completed projects through stronger project preparation, sustainable financing, public-private collaboration and improved management of government property.
It is my pleasure to welcome you to Cape Town for the sixth Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa, or SIDSSA 2026.
This year’s theme is “Shaping the Future of Municipal Infrastructure”.
It reflects our focus on improving infrastructure delivery where South Africans and businesses experience the state most directly: at the local level.
SIDSSA is now the second most important summit in South Africa after the South African Investment Conference.
This year, we have seven African Ministers joining the Summit from, among others, Kenya, Botswana and Zimbabwe, as well as nine African Mayors from cities such as Nairobi, Maputo, and Douala in Cameroon – the most in the conference’s six-year history.
In addition to the Premier of Gauteng, we have seven Members of Executive Council from across South Africa’s nine provinces attending.
And - for the first time ever - we will be having 13 mayors from important metropolitan and regional areas across South Africa – as well as 3 members of the mayoral committee - joining as part of our City to City Connect conversations.
Over 1,200 delegates will enter our doors during the upcoming days as we work to turn South Africa into a construction site.
Ladies and gentlemen,
This shows our commitment to using this Investment Conference as an opportunity to mobilise commitments into the South African economy.
SIDSSA brings together government, project sponsors, investors, financiers and technical professionals to convert those commitments into viable Infrastructure projects and functioning assets.
Its value must be measured by whether projects are prepared, financed, procured and completed.
On Tuesday morning, President Cyril Ramaphosa will formally open the Symposium.
The President will also announce the third edition of the Infrastructure South Africa Construction Book.
I will therefore not pre-empt that announcement today.
Instead, I want to explain how SIDSSA fits into the wider work of Infrastructure South Africa and the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure to accelerate construction and improve the management of public assets.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Municipal infrastructure is essential to service delivery and economic growth.
Reliable water, sanitation, electricity, roads and waste services determine whether communities and businesses can function.
Improving these systems requires more than additional funding.
Municipalities also need credible project preparation, technical capability, sustainable funding models and plans to operate and maintain assets over their full lifecycle.
Over the past 18 months, Infrastructure South Africa has committed R131 million to supporting local government infrastructure.
In Matjhabeng Local Municipality, an investment of approximately R1.8 million to prepare a non-revenue-water programme across a network of around 1,700 kilometres helped unlock an R800 million debt-financing facility from the Development Bank of Southern Africa.
Through the Presidential Adopt-a-Municipality pilot, ISA is helping Metsimaholo, Govan Mbeki, uMngeni and Ramotshere Moiloa prepare projects seeking to unlock approximately R7 billion in water, sanitation, energy and waste-management investment.
This support is intended to strengthen municipal capability, not replace municipal responsibility.
That principle applies across Infrastructure South Africa’s work.
ISA does not operate outside the public infrastructure ecosystem, and it does not deliver projects in isolation.
It supports work led by departments, municipalities, state-owned entities and private sponsors, collaborating with National Treasury, regulators, development institutions, investors and technical professionals to bridge the gaps between concept, finance and implementation.
This matters because the fiscus cannot meet our infrastructure requirements alone.
Public investment must work alongside development finance and responsible private capital, with clear public oversight.
South Africa now has 81 Strategic Integrated Projects comprising 263 individual projects, with an estimated combined value of R1.9888 trillion.
This includes both public-sector-led and private-sector-led high-value, high-impact infrastructure investments.
Over the last 18 months, 37 projects worth approximately R69 billion have been completed.
Eighty-two projects worth approximately R502.7 billion are currently in construction.
A further 54 projects worth approximately R206 billion are in documentation and procurement.
These figures show both the scale of the pipeline and the importance of sustained coordination across the infrastructure system.
Following my remarks, the Head of Infrastructure South Africa, Mameetse Masemola, will provide more detail on the pipeline and its stages of delivery.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
One of the largest constraints on infrastructure delivery remains inadequate preparation.
Projects are still announced before feasibility studies, land requirements, regulatory approvals, procurement routes and funding arrangements have been resolved.
Through our first-of-its-kind R600 million commitment to project-delivery support launched by myself in 2024, Infrastructure South Africa is helping public institutions develop high-value projects into bankable and investment-ready opportunities.
Infrastructure South Africa is providing preparation support to more than 26 projects with an estimated capital value of approximately R148 billion, while 15 supported projects have completed their preparatory work.
At SIDSSA 2026, we will announce the projects selected through Bid Window II.
Together, they represent a potential capital investment value of approximately R57.8 billion.
Bid Window III opened in July to continue building this pipeline.
Prepared projects must then be connected to finance.
Earlier this month, I chaired ISA’s Development Partners Forum Deal Pitching Session. Four opportunities in housing, aviation, bulk water and energy, requiring more than R53 billion in debt finance, were presented directly to development finance institutions and multilateral banks.
The objective is targeted engagement between sponsors and financiers to move projects towards financial close.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The work of our Department extends beyond Infrastructure South Africa and SIDSSA.
Public Works and Infrastructure is also responsible for constructing, maintaining and managing the buildings and properties from which government delivers services.
We are accelerating work on government assets, including through the Independent Development Trust.
In Johannesburg, the new R769 million Deeds Office is under construction in the inner city.
It is the first new high-rise development in the Johannesburg CBD in more than 20 years, is scheduled for completion in October, and will reduce the state’s reliance on rented accommodation.
The Department supported the handover of the Durban Forensic Science Laboratory to the South African Police Service within 12 months.
It has also helped restart progress at the Sarah Baartman Centre of Remembrance, where a contractor was appointed after more than a decade of delays.
The Independent Development Trust’s confirmed order book has grown by R2 billion to R6 billion. During 2025/26, it completed 279 social infrastructure facilities against a target of 244.
We are also changing how the state manages its wider property portfolio.
Government cannot continue spending approximately R6 billion each year on private leases while state-owned buildings remain vacant, underused or in poor condition.
The planned South African National Property Company will move the state towards professional asset management: reducing unnecessary leases, refurbishing buildings, structuring partnerships and unlocking responsible investment.
During the past financial year, the Department also made more than 46 state-owned properties available for shelters for victims of gender-based violence and femicide and for skills-development centres.
This is what we mean when we speak about using public assets for the public good.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The SIDSSA programme reflects this approach.
Today we visit the Cape Flats Aquifer.
Tomorrow, the Leaders Forum and City-to-City Connect programme focus on shared challenges.
Tuesday’s plenary will address investment, delivery, financing and regional cooperation.
SIDSSA brings the necessary partners together, but the work cannot end when the programme closes.
The outcomes must be better-prepared projects, credible partnerships, identified blockages, clear responsibilities and implementation timelines that can be monitored.
South Africans need government buildings that work, public assets that are properly used, and infrastructure that delivers reliable services in their communities.
That is the standard by which our work must be judged.
Thank you.
Enquiries:
James de Villiers - Spokesperson to Minister Macpherson
Email: james.devilliers@dpw.gov.za
082 766 0276
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