South Africa's Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has unveiled the South African Construction Action Plan to address chronic issues in public construction projects. Minister Dean Macpherson announced the initiative in Cape Town, aiming to restore accountability and halt the cycle of incomplete schools, hospitals, and escalating costs. The plan targets mismanagement, disappearing contractors, and criminal interference in the sector.
On 29 October 2025, Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson introduced the South African Construction Action Plan (Sacap) following a meeting of provincial and national infrastructure leaders. Speaking in Cape Town, he described it as a framework to end 'the days of doing business with the government without delivering' and address South Africans' frustration with incomplete projects.
The plan responds to a sector in crisis, where public sector capital expenditure dropped from R283-billion in 2016 to R198-billion in 2021, per Stats SA data. The National Development Plan targets Gross Fixed Capital Formation at 30% of GDP by 2030, but actual investment stood at 14.2% in 2022. Achieving this requires R1.7-trillion in funding, or an additional R140-billion annually for seven years, according to Deputy Director-General Mameetse Masemola in an August 2024 parliamentary meeting. Between 2016 and 2020, the Auditor-General reported projects missing deadlines rising from 10% to 60%, due to poor planning, weak management, and cash flow issues.
Sacap outlines six key actions: establishing a national database to blacklist underperforming contractors and consultants; ring-fencing infrastructure funds with real-time monitoring via a joint subcommittee; implementing digital asset management systems by March 2026 for transparency; creating procurement war rooms in departments; collaborating with the Auditor-General on audits; and requiring professional registration for state engineers, architects, and managers by June 2026.
The initiative also combats the 'construction mafia,' with over 850 arrests and 240 convictions in the past year under the Durban Declaration. Parliament's trade committee chair Mzwandile Masina emphasized clamping down on criminal exploitation of empowerment policies, noting, 'This intervention was never intended for criminals, but well-meaning South Africans.' The department oversees R14-billion in active projects, with provinces like Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Western Cape cited for strong delivery. Implementation follows a four-phase schedule with quarterly public reports, as Deputy Director-General Batho Mokhothu outlined. Macpherson urged public accountability: 'We are saying publicly that the system has failed too often, but that it can be fixed.'