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The Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, said in his 2020 Budget Speech, “Budgets are complex, but the numbers are simple. The numbers show that we have work to do.”

The Concrete Institute (TCI) Managing Director, Bryan Perrie, said this echoed what the President had said in his State of the Nation Address earlier this month: that this was a time for South Africa to “fix the fundamentals”.

Mboweni said capital spending would be complemented by the Infrastructure Fund. “Over the next three years the Development Bank of Southern Africa will package blended finance mega-projects of least R200 billion,” he told Parliament. “Government has committed R10 billion over the next three years.”

“This is welcome news, but the existing infrastructure is being jeopardised by lack of maintenance, and the new ones are hindered by the sluggish speed with which such projects are implemented,” said Perrie.

He believes that this is directly linked to the crisis in the cement industry. The cement industry, and the related sectors, he said, are facing a crisis due to the market being flooded with cheap imports of uncertain quality.

“This is one of the fundamentals that needs to be fixed. Unless the government steps in and creates a level playing field, our industry will collapse in the face of unfair competition,” said Perrie. “The President and the Minister are promoting  infrastructure spend, and for this to happen and for it to benefit South Africans, the cement industry, which employs thousands of workers, many in deep rural areas,  directly and indirectly, needs immediate action.”

The Minister used as an analogy, the hardy aloe ferox, a plant he said — holding one up in Parliament — that “survives and thrives when times are tough”. He ended his speech by going back to the aloe, saying that in order “to grow to its full potential, we need to do things that will help it in the medium- to long-run – for example, augmenting the soil with the right amount of organic manure, providing the right amount of sun and the correct amount of water”.

“That’s exactly what the cement industry needs — help in the medium- to long-run,” said Perrie. “The government needs to help create an environment in which we can survive and contribute to the essential infrastructure build required by our country. It’s more than just numbers— it’s also about sustainable livelihoods and jobs and indeed the future of our country.”

Issued by The Concrete Institute