Engineering and architecture firm GIBB says South Africa is at a pivotal time to redefine infrastructure as a means of delivering climate-resilient development, economic inclusion and measurable environmental impact, as countries and industries move from ambition to implementation in their post-2026 sustainability strategies.
This means moving beyond traditional engineering outcomes to holistic, human-centered systems.
The sustainability narrative is expected to change globally, with companies and investors prioritizing execution over aspirations by developing outcome-focused corporate strategies that deliver resilience, competitiveness, circularity, and measurable environmental, social, and governance performance.
This shift is in line with broader trends in sustainable finance, where Africa continues to face a gap between investment needs and available capital for infrastructure and climate adaptation, despite increasing sustainable debt and climate finance flows.
These themes were at the heart of a recent industry roundtable hosted by GIBB, where leaders across the built environment reflected on the structural changes needed to move South Africa from ambition to action.
At the time, GIBB Group CEO Vishal Latchman said sustainability could no longer be treated as a project-level consideration in 2026, adding that it was essential to integrate economic growth, environmental responsibility, social uplift and cultural relevance into a single delivery framework, making sustainability an organizing principle for infrastructure systems.
“Infrastructure must be human-centered and designed with long-term sustainability in mind, not short-term outcomes,” Lutchman said.
However, overall policy fragmentation, procurement planning, and implementation remain persistent challenges. Siled approaches weaken accountability and limit value creation. The roundtable emphasized the need for ecosystem-based thinking, where public and private actors collaborate across value chains to connect people to opportunities and provide infrastructure that supports economic participation.
Furthermore, Nutshaveni Fiza, GM of Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management at GIBB, stressed that inadequate maintenance, underinvestment, and constraints in transport and logistics networks continue to limit trade efficiency and market access. Reversing this trend will require smarter investment prioritization, certainty in long-term planning, and reliable public-private partnerships.
“The declining contribution of infrastructure to GDP further highlights the urgency for reform,” he said.
Danny Massimene, president of the Built Environment Black Business Council, a professional body for the built environment industry, added that it was important to focus on the “equally important considerations” of change and inclusion, as weak enforcement of procurement laws and concentrated supply chains continue to prevent meaningful participation by start-ups.
“To unlock sustainable value, it is essential to shift procurement models from lowest cost outcomes to quality, resilience and measurable social impact,” he said.
A key outcome that panelists worked to implement within their organizations was a decisive shift to a comprehensive, bottom-up planning model that reflects community needs and local realities.
In support of this, Lufno Latsik, Chairman of the Project and Construction Management Professional Council of South Africa, the professional body for the project and construction management sector, said stakeholders need to strengthen professional standards and accountability to improve delivery outcomes and public confidence.
“Results-based contracting, skills transfer and enforceable professional oversight are essential to improve quality and restore trust in the sector,” he concluded.
