The Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development will embark on 340 projects valued at R4.5bn over the next three years.
Gauteng infrastructure development MEC Jacob Mamabolo made the announcement on Tuesday. He said that R1.7bn was allocated for projects in the 2018-19 financial year‚ including for schools‚ clinics‚ community centres and other public facilities for the people of Gauteng.
In the 2018-19 financial year‚ six new schools will be built‚ 19 renovations will be done, and three upgrades and additions completed. The health department will also get six new-build projects‚ two renovations, and two upgrades and additions.
Mamabolo said the projects would be profiled and prioritised to enable the department to manage them efficiently.
"All the identified pipeline projects are classified into three categories‚ with the first known as platinum‚ which is a list of 63 projects planned for delivery during the current 2018-19 financial year. The 63 platinum projects are valued at R459m," he said. "They have been vetted against the infrastructure delivery management system (IDMS) guidelines to ensure their delivery period is not delayed or extended.
"The second category is silver‚ consisting of 188 projects planned for delivery during the 2019-20 financial year [with an] estimated allocation of about R966m. The last classification is ‘coal’ and consists of 89 projects planned for delivery in the 2021-22 financial year [with an] estimated allocation of about R260m."
Mamabolo said the department will improve its monitoring of project performance and ensure it manages compliance issues that normally fall under the ambit of other spheres of government.
All the construction companies linked to the 63 projects for delivery in this financial year will be brought on board. Unreliable contractors and service providers will be identified and subjected to consequence management before causing delays or unnecessary cost over-runs‚ Mamabolo promised.
He said project delivery efficiency will be achieved through the use of technology by using just one source: the Lutsinga technology nerve centre. The centre will enable the department to receive live, daily project-management data for decision-making, as well as for ongoing monitoring and evaluation.
Said Mamabolo: "It is for this particular reason that we have introduced the use of drones to monitor and conduct oversight on construction site performance‚ thus reconciling reported data by our officials and the real life situation on the ground. We have been piloting the use of drones since early January this year, and we are pleased with the results."
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