Track: Human Factors and Ergonomics

Abstract

South Africa, as a developing country, has the responsibility to deliver developmental programmes such as reliable infrastructure, which could assist in the transportation of goods to other countries. Road infrastructure is a necessary condition to economic growth. This study adopted a quantitative approach in order to investigate on a stakeholder’s perspective on the causes of poor service delivery of road infrastructure. Structured questionnaires was circulated to 75 stakeholders in construction industry in Gauteng Province, which were registered with various approved councils, construction professionals and contractors such as civil engineers, project managers, directors, quantity surveyors, construction managers and resident engineers. 50 came back completed and eligible to use. Random sampling method was used to select the respondents in various organizations. Research findings revealed that community unrest and land proclamation were the highest ranked causes for poor service delivery. Followed by, time, financial constraints, cash flow, lack of proper planning, resources, delivery of material, plant and equipment, shortage of skilled labourers, lack of equipment, lack of materials, performance guarantees, project duration/period, cost overruns were the major  causes of poor service delivery of roads infrastructure according to stakeholders perspective. Therefore, mitigating the causes would be by having proper management planning, skills transfer through PPP’s, proper communication channels and legality. It is recommended that road agencies (SANRAL,JRA), municipality engagement  should play a vital role in the service delivery and maintaining roads. In addition, quality work is encouraged in order to avoid rework and save time and cost, hence more roads can be constructed. Good roads are an important aspect of society that could contribute to the African Renaissance. Moreover, roads contribute to poverty alleviation by promoting growth through provision of infrastructure in corridors that connects nations and access to land locked countries.

Keywords

Challenges, Construction industry, Road infrastructure , Stakeholder