The SONA theme is closely aligned to CESA’s 2019 theme of ‘Reshaping our Future Together’ focusing on changing social norms by ‘Doing what is Right!

“We welcome the Presidents ‘Brave New World’.  I think that his call for collective engagement is fundamental to achieve a successful future for South Africa.  It is heartening that technical competence in Government will be increased and that infrastructure promotion will be driven further through the Infrastructure Fund.  These are positive steps that CESA supports and is willing to become active participants in,” states Neresh Pather, CESA President. 

The organisation commends President Ramaphosa for stating that infrastructure investment is key to growing the economy. CESA welcomes the interventions that are decisively stabilizing and revitalizing state-owned enterprises (SOEs) as well as dealing with those implicated in State Capture.

“The announcement by the President of the Oil and Gas find by Total off the coast of South Africa could indeed be a game changer for accelerated economic recovery and growth. This would indeed be the miracle we were looking for and we must use it constructively and well. It may well be the catalyst for getting our growth up to the mythical 6% target. It would certainly be a much harder ask without this divine intervention,” states Chris Campbell, CESA CEO

CESA’s theme for 2019 includes Delivering Purpose and Engagement - Establishing Trust and there is a strong focus within CESA on working with and supporting Government, with increased collaboration with National Treasury on Procurement, the Auditor General’s office on compliance support, together with partnering agreements with Client Bodies like SANRAL, Transnet and COGTA allowing CESA to contribute positively in terms of support that includes capacity building, skills development, compliance and good governance.

“We are very encouraged by the announcement that the elections will be held as early as 8 May 2019 as announced by the President. This means that he can get on with the business of getting a new team in place and the urgent need to start implementing the infrastructure development programmes required for economic growth and job creation”, states Chris Campbell, CEO of CESA.

The organisation is a strong proponent of Value for Money, Resilience and Sustainability and these initiatives include working towards capacitating infrastructure teams appropriately, in all Government institutions, ensuring that the appropriate technical skills are used in decision making related to infrastructure development by ensuring the relevant skills and competence are utilized. There needs to be a strong focus on providing ‘value for money’ infrastructure.

As an Industry body, CESA has been leading the call for a collaborative and sustainable approach to the manner in which the private sector supports government in effecting infrastructure delivery optimally, ensuring best value for money.