Delayed public infrastructure projects cost taxpayers billions [Video]

• Speaking to Parliament this week, Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson laid bare the rot within the department.
• Delayed public infrastructure projects have cost taxpayers R2.9 billion over the years.
• The Minister reported that of the 206 current projects, 164 are delayed but laid out plans to address delays and the financial burden they create.

Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson has revealed just how deep the rot within the department he inherited extends.

Speaking to Parliament this week, the minister described the delayed projects he has seen during his tenure in office as crime scenes. While an extreme comparison, it is apt given just how much these delays cost the country.

“In this financial year alone, out of the current 206 infrastructure projects overseen by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI), 164 projects are experiencing delays for a number of reasons,” Macpherson told Parliament.

The minister went …