| Load-shedding a threat to Gautrain schedule - 01/02/2008 |
Construction of the R25bn Gautrain project continues despite load-shedding, says Gautrain spokesperson Dr Barbara Jensen. Embattled power utility Eskom has been implementing scheduled load-shedding in an attempt to deal with electricity demand exceeding available capacity. Engineering News reports that construction of the rapid-rail link is on a tight schedule, with build-and-operate consortium Bombela aiming to complete the first portion of the route between Sandton and OR Tambo International Airport by 2010, in time for the World Cup.
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Full Engineering News report
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| Time running out for CTICC - 30/01/2008 |
Time is not on the side of the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) in its plans to start its R500m expansion for completion by 2010. If its request to obtain the Customs House site on the Foreshore from the department of public works is not agreed to by March 1, it will lose out on the associated business boom expected as a result of the 2010 WC. The Cape Argus reports that Andrew Boraine, chairperson of the centre’s holding company Convenco, said the centre was turning away prospective clients for conferences and events in 2010, because of the uncertainty. The City of Cape Town, as major shareholder in Convenco, has now stepped in, in the hope of speeding a decision.
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Full Cape Argus report
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| Power cuts raises infrastructure doubts - 29/01/2008 |
SA’s critical electricity crunch has raised doubts over whether infrastructure can keep pace with an economic boom while the country prepares to host the 2010 WC. SA is gripped by traumatic power cuts that have brought the mining industry, mainstay of the economy, to a halt after the government ignored repeated warnings from state utility Eskom that major investment in power was needed. According to a Mail & Guardian Online report, the government has vowed to resolve the power crunch, which has cast a shadow over SA’s hosting of the 2010 WC and could also discourage much-needed foreign capital.
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Full Mail & Guardian Online report
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| Coastal route construction gets under way - 25/01/2008 |
Construction of the coastal route between East London and PE has begun in a R142M project which will see development increase in the Eastern Cape. The R72 route will provide a vital arterial to the area, said MEC for Safety, Liaison, Roads and Transport, Thobile Mhlahlo. BuaNews reports that he said the venture was critical in providing not only access to the Eastern Cape during the 2010 WC, but tourism to the two cities and Coega. The small villages along the route are also expected to benefit from the venture in terms of development.
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Full BuaNews report
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| Green Point development issues continue - 25/01/2008 |
Residents of Cape Town’s Green Point have been inundated with development issues, which have an impact on property values. The most pressing development issue facing Cape Town’s Green Point suburb is the current construction of an ’unsightly’ five-storey apartment block along the Signal Hill treeline. Business Day reports that residents are also awaiting the outcome of the promise that an urban park would be developed adjacent to the new 2010 WC stadium.
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Full Business Day report
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| Cement sales rise by 6.6% - 24/01/2008 |
SA cement sales grew by 6.6% in 2007 to 14,124 m tons, says data supplied by the Cement and Concrete Institute. This follows increases of 11% in 2006, 11,6% in 2005, 17,4% in 2004 and 7% in 2003. According to a report on the News24 site, the 2010 WC stadia, some new dams and the Gautrain project should add to cement demand in the current year. An interesting observation is that the three largely rural areas of the Eastern Cape, Border/Transkei and the Northern Cape are above the industrial and urban heartland province of Gauteng in the growth table.
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Full report on the News24 site
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| Tourism group sounds 2010 warning - 23/01/2008 |
SA may struggle to host the 2010 WC because of the current power cuts, the SA Tourism Services Association (Satsa) said. According to a Mail & Guardian Online report, Satsa CE Michael Tatalias said major building projects for 2010 were on tight deadlines and needed huge amounts of power to run. ’The building work on the stadiums is also going to be widely disrupted. We have to ask ourselves honestly if we can still do this,’ he said. He said the power cuts could destroy the country’s tourism industry completely. He said more had to be done to protect smaller businesses, the backbone of the country’s tourism industry.
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Full Mail & Guardian Online report
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| Mother City stays on track - 23/01/2008 |
Western Cape provincial government announced that they were impressed that Cape Town’s preparations for the 2010 WC were well on track. Western Cape MEC for sport and culture Whitey Jacobs told Sowetan: ’We are pleased that the construction of the Green Point Stadium is going according to plan. The report I have received is that we are on schedule.’ Pieter Cronje, Cape Town municipality 2010 World Cup communications director, said: ’We all know that there will be several inspections by the Fifa technical committee and the LOC between this year and 2009. We are on schedule for the inspections and completion date. The major final inspection will take place in October 2009.’
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Full report in The Sowetan
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| Load shedding hits Gautrain - 22/01/2008 |
Construction of the R25bn Gautrain project continues despite load shedding, said Gautrain spokesperson Dr Barbara Jensen. According to an Engineering News report, Eskom has been implementing scheduled load shedding since last week in an attempt to deal with electricity demand exceeding available capacity. Construction of the rapid-rail link is on a tight schedule, with build-and-operate consortium Bombela aiming to complete the first portion of the route between Sandton and the OR Tambo Airport by 2010, in time for the WC.
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Full Engineering News report
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| Major upgrade for Somhlolo stadium - 22/01/2008 |
An allocation of E15 million has been reserved for the completion of the Somhlolo National Stadium upgrading project. The Swazi Observer reports that the money will cater for the installation and numbering of seats, installation of emergency exit gates and general stadium rehabilitation. There was also a request for the construction of dressing rooms and medical centres. Before this allocation, government committed a sum of E10 million towards implementation of 2010 projects and programmes.
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Full report in The Swazi Observer
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| Power cuts could increase 2010 costs - 22/01/2008 |
Eskom’s load shedding could lead to rising costs and delays in the construction of 2010 WC stadiums because suppliers to main contractors have been hit by blackouts. Danny Jordaan, CE of the 2010 World Cup LOC, told The Times from Ghana that ’by Friday we will have a meeting with Eskom. After that we will have a better idea of what is going on.’ In Durban, project managers at the Moses Mabhida stadium said that although load shedding had not yet had an effect on construction work, there was concern that its effect on the ’value chain’ would be felt later.
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Full report in The Times
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| Power cuts could increase 2010 costs - 22/01/2008 |
Eskom’s load shedding could lead to rising costs and delays in the construction of 2010 WC stadiums because suppliers to main contractors have been hit by blackouts. Danny Jordaan, CE of the 2010 World Cup LOC, told The Times from Ghana that ’by Friday we will have a meeting with Eskom. After that we will have a better idea of what is going on.’ In Durban, project managers at the Moses Mabhida stadium said that although load shedding had not yet had an effect on construction work, there was concern that its effect on the ’value chain’ would be felt later.
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Full report in The Times
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| Special attention for PE stadium - 16/01/2008 |
The construction of the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in PE requires special attention from the 2010 LOC, which it will receive, CE Danny Jordaan said. The Sowetan reports that he was outlining last year’s achievements and this year’s challenges in preparing for the tournament. The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is the only new stadium that will be used for the 2009 Confederations Cup and the World Cup. But Jordaan was happy with the general progress of construction, stating: ’The upgrading and construction of stadiums is on track and being closely monitored.’
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Full report in The Sowetan
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| Construction sector continues to boom - 15/01/2008 |
It was another busy year for the construction sector. The Financial Mail reports that the public budget for infrastructure-related projects has swelled since last year to R412bn. This is unlikely to slow down despite a series of consecutive interest rate hikes over the past year and expectations of more to come. Investors now believe there will be even more opportunity in this sector beyond the 2010 WC, which has enjoyed much of the focus.
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Full Financial Mail report
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| Green Point ahead of schedule? - 14/01/2008 |
Construction of the Green Point stadium should be finished by October 2009, four months ahead of the City of Cape Town’s anticipated completion date, despite indications that the project will run over budget. The Cape Times reports that Ian Neilson, mayoral committee member for finance, said that a ’general escalation’ in the cost of building materials and inflation meant the city would run over its R2,85bn budget for the stadium. He said Cape Town, with its three-year contract to build its 68 000-seat stadium for the 2010 World Cup, ’ran the greatest risk of inflation’ compared with other host cities.
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Full Cape Times report
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| EASSy mum on project progress - 13/01/2008 |
The East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) has previously promised that cable construction would begin in mid-December 2007, but they are now mum on the progress of the project. MyADSL.co.za reports that the EASSy consortium last year announced that they have signed agreements with various financial institutions – something which gave a massive boost to the $235m project. It was further announced that cable construction will begin in mid-December, and the cable is expected to be fully operational in time for the 2010 WC.
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Full MyADSL.co.za report
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| SA cement sales soar - 11/01/2008 |
SA cement sales grew by 6.6% in 2007 to a record 13.252m tons (Mt), data supplied by the Cement and Concrete Institute shows. This followed a 11% rise in 2006, a 11.6% gain in 2005, a 17.4% surge in 2004 and a 7% climb in 2003. FIN24 reports that the 2010 WC stadia, some new dams and the Gautrain project should add to cement demand in the current year. The three largely rural areas of the Eastern Cape, Border/Transkei and Northern Cape are above the industrial and urban heartland province of Gauteng in the growth table.
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Full FIN24 report
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| Gautrain benefitting big 5 - Nabcat - 11/01/2008 |
The National Black Contractors and Allied Trades (Nabcat) Forum is spoiling for a fight with the ministries of transport over the Gautrain project. The forum, which has a membership of 20 000 countrywide, accused the department, including that of public works, of paying lip-service to the empowerment of black contractors, whom they say are only allowed to feed on the crumbs. Nabcat president Sam Moleshiwa said beneficiaries of the economic upswing in the deal, including those awarded contracts to upgrade and build stadiums for the 2010 WC, were members of the Big 5, previously advantaged construction companies he did not mention by name.
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Full report in The Sowetan
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| Gautrain construction goes underground - 10/01/2008 |
Construction work on the Gautrain has gone underground, with a 160-metre, 885-ton tunnel-boring machine set to tackle the rock under central Johannesburg. It has been just over a year since groundwork began on the multi-billion rand rapid rail link between SA’s commercial and administrative centres. According to an allAfrica.com report, work is ongoing at 45 sites across the two cities, and it is expected that the line from the centre of Johannesburg to the airport will be completed in 2010, ahead of the 2010 WC. So far R7bn of the project’s R25bn budget has been spent, most of which has been on groundwork along the train route and at the construction sites of future stations.
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Full allAfrica.com report
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| Construction infuses new vigor into Africa - 2/1/2008 |
Infrastructure construction, which is viewed as a stumbling block for Africa on its way to economic and social development, has become a priority of the continent in the past year. As the continent increasingly enjoy peace and stability, many African countries have put forward a series of measures to attract the participation of foreign companies in the field of infrastructure construction. The waves have infused new energy into the development of Africa. The southern tip of the continent, South Africa is thrusting continuous efforts in the infrastructure sector in preparation for the worlds biggest soccer extravaganza, the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
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Full Reed First Source report
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| Cement prices rise - 2/1/2008 |
The Chief Executive Officer of the Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) Reginald Motswaiso has said the costs of housing developments have escalated tremendously over the past decade. Motswaiso says rising input costs are making the provision of affordable housing to Batswana a challenging task. He said costs such as labour, material and overheads have more than doubled. Motswaiso was speaking at a BHC function in Francistown last week. The cost of a bag of cement was less than P20.00 in 1997, and today it hovers around P45.00 and with the 2010 World Cup next door, the cement prices have hit the roof, he says.
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Full report in The Gazette
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| Airport design kicks off - 16/12/07 |
Alcatel-Lucent has started design work related to its 34 million euro (about R337 million) deal, announced last month, to design and deploy an integrated communication, security and IT system for the new King Shaka International Airport, north of Durban. ITWeb reports that the airport must be in service by the time SA hosts the FIFA Soccer World Cup, in June 2010, and will be able to handle more than 7.5 million passengers a year.
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Full ITWeb report
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| Gautrain spends R100m on IT - 16/12/07 |
Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa said R8.3 billion has been spent on the Gautrain rapid rail link to date, with at least R100 million going to IT. Shilowa gave an update of the R25 billion public-private partnership (PPP) at the naming ceremony for a tunnel boring machine that will excavate part of the route the high-speed train will follow between Rosebank and Park Station, in the Johannesburg CBD. ITWeb reports that construction started in September last year and phase one of the project is scheduled for completion in time for the 2010 World Cup.
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Full ITWeb report
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| Air transport key to 2010 success - 16/12/07 |
Aviation is the first taker in the showcase for the 2010 World Cup. Airport owner Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) is making strong headway in the upgrade of its ten airports ahead of the tournament. Engineering News reports that Acsa communications manager Solomon Makgale says that developments at the airports are well on track and will enable the company to meet the expected influx of visitors around 2010.
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Full Engineering News report
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| Stadium renovations might miss deadline - 13/12/2007 |
Renovations at the National Sports Stadium are progressing well, but there are fears the deadline for Octo-ber next year might be missed amid revelations that some additional work still awaits Government approval.
The Herald reports that officials from the ministries of Finance, Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development and the Sports and Recreation Commission toured the 65 000-seater Chinese-built giant facility to assess progress. The stadium was expected to be reopened next year, two years ahead of the 2010 WC.
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Full report in The Herald
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| On track for 2010 - 12/12/2007 |
After rounding up their 2010 WC preparations for 2007 last week, the SA Government is impressed with the progress made in the nine host cities. The Sowetan reports that Joe Phaahla, the government’s 2010 WC unit director-general, said they were faced with two challenges. ’The first challenge is for all of us to stick to the set completion date of December 2009 for Green Point Stadium in Cape Town. We are working on a tight schedule to meet the deadline, but the constructors assured us that they will be done by December 14 or 15,’ he said. ’There is also an issue of the escalating figures, which according to the estimated information we have received amounts to billions of rands.’
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Full report in The Sowetan
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| Erbacon makes R20m acquisition - 07/12/2007 |
The listing of Durban-based construction and plant-hire company Erbacon, on the AltX was the sevety-ninth listing on the market this year. Engineering News reports that CE Dave Erskine explained that this capital would be used for the acquisition of construction company Armstrong, the transaction would cost about R20mn and was expected to be finalised next year. With regard to growth prospects for the future Erskine was confident that the company would benefit from government’s infrastructure spend, the development associated with 2010 WC.
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Full Engineering News report
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| Early completion for La Mercy airport - 06/12/2007 |
The new airport at La Mercy could be finished sooner than expected, the annual provincial tourism conference was informed . The Daily News reports that Ahmed Bassa, Airports Company of SA’s (ACSA) project executive for the King Shaka International Airport and neighbouring Dube TradePort, said that the R6.8bn airport was due to be finished by April 2010, three months before the start of the 2010 WC. Bassa said ACSA and the construction joint venture were presently looking at an acceleration programme ’to see how much quicker we can build the airport’.
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Full Daily News report
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| Premier impressed with Peter Mokaba progress – 05/12/2007 |
Sello Moloto, Limpopo premier, is impressed with the progress in the construction of the new Peter Mokaba Sports Complex in Polokwane. The Sowetan reports that the new facility, which is next to the existing Peter Mokaba Stadium, will be one of the 10 venues for the 2010 WC finals. Peter Mokaba is one of the new stadiums that have not been affected by labour strikes since construction started in March. The other new stadiums built for the World Cup are Mbombela (Nelspruit), Nelson Mandela Bay (PE), Moses Mabhida (Durban) and Green Point (Cape Town).
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Full report in The Sowetan
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| Green Point concerns dismissed – 05/12/2007 |
The project director of the Green Point 2010 WC stadium has dismissed concerns that the multi-million rand development would not able to meet its timelines, boldly claiming construction would be finished by 2009. Andrew Fanton, project director of building Cape Town’s soccer venue for the 2010 WC, said that, despite construction delays, the development was on schedule. The Sowetan reports that to ensure that all stakeholders, especially the workers, understand the need to complete the project on time, Murray & Roberts WBHO, the joint venture company tasked with building the stadium, has established a training centre at the construction site.
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Full report in The Sowetan
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