Software doesn’t fix broken processes — it can simply make them digital, By Chris Smith, Senior Vice President for MEA and APAC at RIB Software

Climate resilience, commercial discipline and engineering excellence are creating new opportunities for Africa to accelerate infrastructure delivery

As South Africa works to strengthen the skills and capacity needed to deliver and maintain the infrastructure on which communities and the economy depend, some of the most important work to strengthen the engineering pipeline happens quietly inside consulting engineering firms.

Digital delivery remains a relatively new but growing capability in South Africa. As the construction and infrastructure sector evolves, information is becoming a highly valuable asset.

In recent years, significant investment has flowed into KwaZulu-Natal, across various industries. Toyota has committed around R10.4 billion to bolster its KZN operations, with significant upgrades to infrastructure and investment in tourism assets and property around the province.

“Construction is not easy. Being women in construction makes it even harder. However, you have chosen a career that can bring an incredible amount of joy and pride.

The Construction Industry Development Board (cidb) honoured the country’s most outstanding women-owned construction entities, academics contractors, mentors and industry leaders at the annual Empowerment and Recognition of Women in Construction (ERWIC) Awards, held in Johannesburg on the 18th August.

South Africa’s construction industry has made progress in creating opportunities for women, but much more needs to be done to achieve meaningful transformation and unlock the full value that women can bring to the sector.

South Africa certainly does not lack infrastructure needs, but the bigger question is whether the country is doing enough to turn those needs into properly prepared projects that can attract investment and ultimately reach construction sites.

A significant milestone has been reached in the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s (PRASA’s) ongoing modernisation of KwaZulu Natal’s rail network, with the installation of a new diamond crossing at Crossmoor Station.