Evaluation of the factors and strategies for water infrastructure project delivery in South Africa

Abstract

Infrastructure project delivery, specifically the delivery of water infrastructure projects, is a serious challenge in South Africa. Therefore, using the study context of water utility agencies in South Africa, the objective of this study was to examine the challenges that emanate from poor delivery and factors that cause poor delivery of water infrastructure projects in South Africa. Fur-thermore, it evaluated the various strategies that could enable improvement in water infrastructure project delivery. A survey research method constituting data obtained on the perceptions of relevant stakeholders and ordinal regression modeling were used for conducting the study. Findings suggest that delay in project completion, cost overruns, poor quality of work, poor fund utilization, and poor service delivery are the major challenges of the poor delivery of projects. The major factors that cause such challenges are linked to four aspects of the infrastructure projects such as project manage-ment, organization and management, construction and construction management, and sociopolitical. Six-pronged strategic measures, which include capacity building, the appointment of competent and skilled professionals, structuring review and monitoring processes, enhancing collaboration and communication among stakeholders, enabling accountability and transparency, and adopting participative leadership, can assist efficient water infrastructure project delivery in South Africa.