---
title: "Ramaphosa and Hill-Lewis harmonise on SA’s infrastructure goals"
description: "The leaders of the two major GNU parties set aside their differences to put up a united front to woo infrastructure investors and partners at the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Sidssa 2026"
author: "Lindsey Schutters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/lindsey-schutters-2/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-08-25-ramaphosa-and-hill-lewis-harmonise-on-sa-s-infrastructure-goals/"
published: "2026-08-25T21:53:04"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 1079
---

# Ramaphosa and Hill-Lewis harmonise on SA’s infrastructure goals

> The leaders of the two major GNU parties set aside their differences to put up a united front to woo infrastructure investors and partners at the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa.

By Lindsey Schutters · Published 25 August 2026, 23:53 SAST

## Key points
- Hill-Lewis and Ramaphosa presented a united front at the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa to woo infrastructure investors across party lines.
- Hill-Lewis urged metros to invest R10bn-15bn annually and grow budgets by inflation plus population growth, with proactive life-cycle asset management.
- Ramaphosa pushed reforms to make projects bankable: convert plans into prepared, investable projects while keeping core planning capacity in government.
- Both agreed capital exists but poor project preparation and weak municipal infrastructure block investment; public infrastructure spending is key to jobs and economic growth.

## Content

There was an uneasy tension in the conference hall on the final day of the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa (Sidssa) 2026. The opening plenary (please do not try to apply any logic to the order of events – it opens when the President speaks) looked like a bit of a DA showcase, with even former leader John Steenhuisen in attendance, seated in the row behind current leader Geordin Hill-Lewis and the minister of public works and infrastructure, Dean Macpherson.

[Catch up

Public Works unveils major pivot focusing on municipal infrastructure

August 23, 2026 ![Image](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/YpmAPJqVvyCX_11gFcEHjkN23lI=/450x0/smart/file/attachments/orphans/IMG_20260823_131033_256493.jpg)](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-08-23-public-works-unveils-major-pivot-focusing-on-municipal-infrastructure/)

A last-minute schedule change forced by Ramaphosa’s parliamentary appearance may have contributed to the tensions, but once the President’s “pretty face” – his words – was on the big screens (via Microsoft Teams), all was well, and he was at his charming best.

The stage was set about an hour before Citizen Number One’s disembodied head smiled, and Hill-Lewis took the podium for his welcome address, oozing the homeground confidence we hope [the Springboks will bring](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-08-25-siya-kolisi-brings-gravitas-as-skipper-for-boks-in-crucial-second-test/) to Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.

### **Rule of thumb**

“I think the basic job description of a metro mayor today is managing the pressure of rapid urbanisation,” said the Cape Town mayor to an audience that included Joburg Mayor Dada Morero.

“We’ve just reported more than R12.3-billion in capital expenditure this last financial year and, let me tell you that R12.3-billion is an all-time South African record for infrastructure investments by a city government in any one year,” he continued, modestly.

“But let me be very frank … even at those record levels of investment, we are only just keeping pace with the rapid growth of our city. That should give us some pause for thought and some perspective nationally.”

Again, this address was more sage, stately knowledge-sharing than what the words alone conveyed. And in a rare moment of almost vulnerability, the mayor shared his nerdiest perspective on infrastructure.

To systematically counter those growth pressures, Hill-Lewis governs with a standard investment benchmark and an inflation-linked growth rule that he believes can apply to all major metros:

> “I think that every major metro should be investing between R10- and R15-billion every single year in order to keep up with the pressure. And once you’ve achieved the minimum required level of investment, that budget should grow every year by at least the combination of inflation \[percentage\] and population growth \[percentage\] in your city.”

To his mind, infrastructure is far more than a passive municipal expense ledger; it is a diagnostic signal of a city’s economic vitality. “When cities work, people work. Infrastructure sends an important signal about the future prospects of a city.”

He said he believes that pipes should be replaced before they fail, and that future-ready infrastructure requires life-cycle management.

![BM Sidssa Cyril GHL](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/TONJWDjlExzZm3_6bDTY8TMXm8Y=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/IMG_20260825_103621_932810.jpg)

*Mayor of Cape Town Geordin Hill-Lewis sounded very presidential in his welcome keynote to open the plenary. (Photo: Lindsey Schutters)*

### **National order**

Ramaphosa positions infrastructure reform at the centre of South Africa’s structural economic shift, focusing on bankability, structural coordination, and regional integration.

“We’re reforming the way infrastructure is financed, how it is conceptualised, how it is made bankable... So, infrastructure, therefore, is very much part of a reform agenda,” said Ramaphosa, almost echoing the evidence of reform that Macpherson and Infrastructure South Africa’s leadership showed the media on Sidssa Day 0 (read: the media conference on Sunday).

And he warned that South Africa is currently investing far below its required thresholds – which is way off Hill-Lewis’s rule of thumb.

“The gross fixed capital formation in our country stood at around 12% in 2025. This is less than half the 30% investment level envisioned in the National Development Plan for 2030. These figures should alarm us, and motivate us at the same time to work with greater urgency.”

That translates to the mandate Macpherson demonstrated that the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure is currently executing on.

In Ramaphosa’s description:

> “We need to convert plans to prepared projects. Convert prepared projects into investment and convert investment into construction. Most importantly, we need to convert construction into infrastructure that supports economic activity and improve the lives of our people.”

Which is basically an extended version of Macpherson’s “turn South Africa into a construction site” refrain.

![BM Sidssa Municipalities MAIN](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/53rmoUwWBYE-xoCZ3Aay65yG9bM=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/IMG_20260823_131033_256493.jpg)

*Dean Macpherson had his signature phrase, ‘Turn South Africa into a construction site’ at the ready as he welcomed mayors and investment partners to Sidssa 2026. (Photo: Lindsey Schutters)*

But the President does stop short of adopting the City of Cape Town method wholesale.

“The central lesson for us in government must never be to outsource our ability to plan. We must not outsource our intelligence, our capability to think... Yes, outsource specialist aspects of what we need to do, so that they are able to come work with the public sector.”

And he sees infrastructure – such as cross-border rail and pipelines – as architecture for African integration.

### **Points of convergence**

Ramaphosa and Hill-Lewis agree that global and local capital is abundant, but the failure to properly prepare and package projects prevents this capital from flowing.

> **Hill-Lewis:** “There is lots of money available for infrastructure investment ... the availability of capital is not the issue, the issue is the preparation of projects.”
>
> **Ramaphosa:** “South Africa does not suffer from a shortage of infrastructure proposals. Our constraint is that too many of these projects are not adequately prepared. There is an important difference between a project that is needed and a project that is ready.”

They’re also perfectly aligned on the premise that national plans are meaningless if local government infrastructure fails, with both believing that this is the level where citizens directly interface with the state.

> **Hill-Lewis:** “Local government is where people actually experience the state most directly. Municipal infrastructure is therefore an economic issue, a governance issue, an investment issue and a deep quality-of-life and dignity issue.”
>
> **Ramaphosa:** “Municipal infrastructure is not only where the effectiveness of the state is most directly felt and tested. It is the foundation of inclusive economic growth.”

Most striking is the absolute consensus that public infrastructure spend acts as an immediate stimulant for private sector job growth, manufacturing and technical capacity building.

If this narrative priority can flow from the party leaders and into their mayoral candidates, then South Africa is about to experience unprecedented growth and prosperity. But that tension ahead of the two opening and welcoming addresses is the problem – the country never knows what to expect from its leaders. **DM**