Surface mining industry association, ASPASA believes infrastructure development in South Africa should become a national focus.

The association, which represents about 75% of the quarries and mines in South Africa that produce key materials for construction projects, wants to encourage better cooperation between all role-players involved in the planning and delivery of all types of infrastructure such as roads, railways, dams, pipelines and buildings.

ASPASA director, Nico Pienaar, says current crisis regarding water shortages throughout the Cape provinces and elsewhere in the country clearly shows that there is an urgent need to improve water management’s structure with new dams, reservoirs, desalination plants, pipelines and other infrastructure.

Future focus

“Although this type of infrastructure does not happen “overnight”, predictions of water shortages had been made many years ago and may have been avoided if providers and planners worked more closely together.

Pienaar believes that industry professionals and representative bodies should form the nucleus of future infrastructure programs in order to work towards real attainable goals.

“For example, if there is consensus among professionals that a road or dam wall needs to be built, then it is imperative to deal with professionals in every link of the project including material suppliers such as aggregates, cement, concrete or bitumen etc. ”he explains.

“With state spending back on track and the economy set to recover from years or paralysis we urge Government and all role players to get together and work towards improving the state of our industry in the short, medium and long term. ASPASA is committed to reaching our country’s goals now and in the future,” Nico concludes.