The South African government says it will create over 66,000 jobs through the implementation of new infrastructure projects. The focus projects were presented yesterday, October 29, by the Minister of Infrastructure Patricia De Lille (pictured) during a press briefing.

She said 52,000 are expected to be created through the urban management program, which targets all 44 districts of the country. Over 4,000 jobs will cover the maintenance and construction of rural roads. The digitalization of government information is expected to generate 10,000 jobs for youth graduates.

All these projects align with the government’s infrastructure investment plan. Since President Ramaphosa came to power, he has multiplied actions to revive the sluggish economy but the current Covid-19 situation is not helping. As part of a recently set up investment fund, the state wants to inject R100 billion ($6 billion) into the infrastructure sector over the next ten years. Private funding is also being sought for the initiative.

Overall, fifty infrastructure projects have been identified as being ready for implementation. Twelve other special projects are also expected to stimulate mass employment. 18 projects worth R129 billion rand ($7.9 billion) will build nearly 190,000 housing units across the country. Through the Rural Bridges Welisizwe program, the government plans to build 400 bridges over rivers to enable safe passage. Fourteen bridges will be constructed in the next four months, and 170 later in 2021.

It should be noted that a large part of the announced projects will be implemented within the framework of a public-private partnership.

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou