Aveng believes the continued underperformance of its South African and rest of Africa construction and engineering division is a function of stagnant infrastructure spending.

The group reports in its 2013 annual report that marginal real growth was forecast for the local construction industry “in line with the slow realisation of the government’s infrastructure investment programme”.

The government’s major public-sector infrastructure projects in progress or under consideration have been valued at R3.6-trillion, with budgeted spending for infrastructure over the next three years of R827 billion.

Under the oversight of the Presidential Infrastructure Co-ordinating Commission, South Africa is implementing 18 large-scale infrastructure projects.

Deputy Minister of Public Enterprises Bulelani Magwanishe recently stated “an extremely high level of co-ordination between different state-owned companies, government departments and agencies and private-sector companies”.