Construction World August 2017

4 / 64

CONSTRUCTION WORLD AUGUST 2017 2
COMMENT
EDITOR & DEPUTY PUBLISHER
Wilhelm du Plessis
ADVERTISING MANAGER
Erna Oosthuizen
LAYOUT & DESIGN
Lesley Testa
CIRCULATION
Karen Smith
TOTAL CIRCULATION:
(First Quarter ’17)
4 762
PUBLISHER
Karen Grant
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY
Crown Publications cc
P O Box 140
BEDFORDVIEW, 2008
Tel: 27 11-622-4770 • Fax: 27 11-615-6108
The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the editor or the publisher.
PRINTED BY
Tandym Cape
@ConstWorldSA
What he had to say recently is also relevant for the
construction industry as the issues affecting trucking are, by
and large, also the issues affecting construction.
The issues affecting economics
Uren says there are various international and national issues
that indirectly (and directly) affect the South African economy.
With ‘affect’ I refer to how South African industry is then
approached by investors, what motivates them or scares them
away. It also refers to how internal events negatively or positively
impact the South African economy.
Internationally the most dramatic events of the recent
past have been Brexit, the election of Emmanuel Macron as
French president, the US’s dramatic exit from the Paris climate
agreement, Trump – who may have started off with bravado,
but who is now increasingly seen as an irritation in the political,
economic and environmental sphere and to a lesser extent Kim
Jong-Un.
As South Africa is geographically removed from most
of these macro-world events, it is more affected by internal
events – events that often put even more stress on an already
struggling economy. The major ones include the cabinet
reshuffle, Thuli Madonsela’s departure and her replacement,
Busisiwe Mkhwebane, the 2018 ANC election and obviously
Zumanomics. The latter has proven to have a direct bearing on
how the local currency performs and how potential investors
view the country.
All these, and others, contribute to an unemployment rate
of above 27%. It seems unlikely that this will decrease any time
soon because the political landscape directly influences the
economic landscape and vice versa.
BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER: infrastructural development can
be the saving grace for a country’s economy in times of stress.
Craig Uren, the COO of Isuzu Motors
South Africa (formerly Isuzu Trucks)
updates the media, on a quarterly basis,
on issues affecting the brand and how it
is doing in the marketplace.
These issues in construction
Relating this situation to construction: in times of downward
trends, one way of alleviation economic strain on a country is
massive infrastructural investment. Although there has been
talk of significant government investment in infrastructure,
projects awarded under this seem to be a mere trickle of what
could have been active projects by now. Therefore, depending
on what report about the construction industry one studies, the
South African industry is either on a downward trend or merely
ticking over.
The current situation does not bode well for the unemploy-
ment rate. Either companies will keep the status quo, or rightsize
even further.
A flat pattern?
Uren illustrated that the truck sales for the first six months of
2017 are much the same as that of 2016 – in essence flat. If
industry does not buy trucks, then industry as a whole is stag-
nant or decreasing. As issues affecting the economy cannot be
predicted and because there is no World Cup or another dramat-
ic event on the horizon, the economy is in a flat cycle. How and
when this will change, cannot be predicted … sadly.
Wilhelm du Plessis
Editor