Abstract
Infrastructure development describes a group of activities that contribute towards the positive
outcome of socio-economic conditions for communities. The two commonly known types of
infrastructure are economic infrastructure and social infrastructure. Economic infrastructure
promotes economic activities through the provision of physical assets such as power stations
(electricity), telecommunication networks, roads, highways, railways, airports etc. Social
infrastructure contributes to the welfare of communities by promoting education, healthcare and
cultural norms of the population. Though infrastructure plays an important role in the livelihood
of communities, there have been instances whereby infrastructure development projects are
overshadowed by risks that impede their successful implementation.
Some infrastructure development projects in South Africa showed evidence of been negatively
affected by risks. Thus the purpose of this research study is to identify infrastructure
development risks and mitigations in South Africa. A questionnaire survey was used to collect data
from professionals involved in the implementation of infrastructure projects. The questionnaire
contained a list of risks identified from literature, and respondents were asked to identify risks
that they have encountered while implementing infrastructure projects and provide mitigations that
were implemented.
The results of the study revealed that infrastructure development risks encountered in South Africa
are similar to risks experienced in other parts of Africa and the rest of the world. Many
professionals in the industry associate with performance risks and inadequate skills capacity
risks. Political risks and corruption have also been identified by a large number of the
participants, followed by commercial and lack of funding risks. Financial risk and economic risks
were identified by a small number of participants, which indicates that such risks are seldom
experienced on infrastructure development projects in South Africa. Risk mitigations were
identified for each of the identified risks by the research participants.
M.Ing. (Engineering Management)