A CRITICAL VIEW OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN CONSTRUCTION SECTOR POST-COVID-19 LOCKDOWN

An Opinion Paper on Recovery

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic had numerous detrimental impacts on the construction sector, including but not limited to job losses to construction employees, revenue losses to stakeholders in the industry, as well as supply chain disruptions. Several construction firms had to shut down operations owing to the impact of the financial losses incurred during the lockdown, while the few that are still in operation have had to review their modus operandi to comply with COVID-19 regulations. While the pandemic has negatively impacted the industry, the effect has also necessitated the need for innovations across the construction sector. This opinion paper presents a
critical analysis of the pandemic and also analyses the several disruptive technologies that emerged as one of the strategies to retain productivity within the sector while also serving the mitigation purpose of curbing the spread of the virus. Other gains of the pandemic include increased government infrastructural investment, private sector participation, government transparency, and effective policy implementation, which have been established to be key drivers of swift and systemic economic recovery post-COVID-19 and are integral in creating jobs in the construction industry. Lessons from the pandemic can also be harnessed for more efficient project delivery and expenditure planning through cautious incorporation into ongoing and future infrastructural projects.