Master Builders South Africa welcomes Budget Speech

The country’s body of construction contractors, Master Builders South Africa (MBSA), has welcomed Minister Godongwana’s budget speech delivered on Wednesday 21 February 2024.

“We welcome the Minister’s budget speech, particularly concerning the introduction of fundamental and far-reaching reforms to infrastructure financing and delivery,” says MBSA President Mr Musa Shangase.

Shangase confirms that MBSA remains concerned about the declining infrastructure spending in the county and any measure aimed at addressing the decline is welcomed by the construction sector.

“We are very much concerned when we see construction companies shutting down their businesses because the country does not have enough infrastructure projects required to keep these companies in competitive business. The recently released Quarterly Labour Survey for Quarter 3 of 2023 paints a gloomy picture for the construction sector which has shed thousands of jobs in just one quarter. We believe that the allocated funds for infrastructure will come to market,” adds Shangase.

MBSA, however, reiterates its position that it is important for government to address all the inhibitors to the implementation of infrastructure spending, such as lack of state technical capacity to roll out the projects, delays in approving building plans, inability to deal with illegal construction site disruptions, non-payment of contractors and the load shedding just to mention a few.

“As an industry body, we remain committed to working with the government to provide the required building skills for the country as that is at the core of what we do for our members and the country. We avail ourselves as an industry body to collaborate with the Minister and other relevant Ministers to ensure that infrastructure delivery is fast-tracked,” says Shangase.

MBSA is a Federation of registered employer Associations representing contractors and employers in the construction industry and is regulated in terms of Section 107 of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995. The Federation’s nine Master Builders Associations and three Affiliate Associations represent more than 3 500 contractors and employers in the industry.