Cyril Ramaphosa unveils R1tn infrastructure drive at Cape Town investment conference

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14-05-2026
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Sunday World
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President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared infrastructure development “the next great frontier of investment” as his administration unveiled an ambitious plan to pump more than R1-trillion into South Africa’s roads, rail, ports and energy systems over the next three years.

Addressing the South Africa Infrastructure Investment Summit in Cape Town on Wednesday, Ramaphosa pitched South Africa as a stable and reform-driven gateway into Africa while aggressively courting global investors amid intensifying competition for international capital.

“Infrastructure is the next great frontier of investment,” Ramaphosa told delegates gathered by global investment giants BlackRock⁠ and Global Infrastructure Partners.

The president said South Africa was positioning itself for “an unprecedented decade of South African infrastructure development and industrial expansion”.

“Over the next three years, South Africa will be spending over $60-billion (R1-trillion) on infrastructure across the three spheres of government, public entities and state-owned enterprises,” he said.

R890-billion in fresh investment pledges

The sweeping investment drive will include the “modernisation of ports, expansion of freight rail capacity, road rehabilitation and strategic trade corridors”.

Ramaphosa used the summit to argue that years of economic stagnation linked to state capture, load shedding and global instability were beginning to ease.

“We are now seeing signs of recovery,” he said. “We have recorded four consecutive quarters of growth into early 2026, although we are yet to see this translate into a meaningful rise in employment.”

The president also attempted to reassure investors worried about policy uncertainty, corruption and infrastructure collapse.

“South Africa is a democracy in which the Constitution provides legal certainty, protects rights, and holds the state accountable,” he said. “Investors seek certainty, transparency and efficiency.”

Ramaphosa revealed that the government had secured R890-billion in fresh investment pledges during the recent South Africa Investment Conference, pushing the administration to set a new target of attracting R3-trillion over the next five years.

“This has encouraged us to set a new investment goal of R3-trillion over the next five years,” he said.

Infrastructure-related crime

The president said the investment commitments represented “factories being built, renewable energy projects being connected to the grid, logistics corridors being modernised, jobs being created, and confidence being restored”.

He also announced that the government was intensifying efforts to combat infrastructure-related crime, illegal mining and construction mafia activities threatening investment projects.

“One of our key priorities is therefore to combat infrastructure-related crime, construction site extortion and illegal mining,” Ramaphosa said.

“We are deploying multidisciplinary teams to dismantle organised crime networks and root out police who collude with criminals.”

Ramaphosa insisted South Africa was entering “a new era of promise” driven by structural reforms, energy market changes, and public-private partnerships designed to unlock faster economic growth and job creation.