**2.2 Public infrastructure delivery challenges in South Africa**

According to academics, several difficulties stem from inadequate infrastructure development and delivery caused by various causes. Experts say South Africa's infrastructure project delivery system needs several problems. Olatunji et al. [21] state that some difficulties may arise due to wrong infrastructure delivery, including cost overruns, project delays, poor quality, inefficient fund management, and poor social benefits in service delivery. Inadequate human resources procedures, insufficient procurement methods, and a lack of leadership impede service delivery [22]. To provide public services, the government relies on various state departments [23]. According to Koops [24], effective project delivery might include additional dependent elements, such as observable performance, to meet customer expectations. According to the World Bank [25], increasing public sector performance necessitates eliminating infrastructural gaps. A rise in domestic and foreign direct investment (FDI), as well as private sector engagement via the adoption of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in public infrastructure delivery, appears to be a critical effort made by the governments [26]. According to Kudumela [27], a deficit in skills capability at the local level, lack of finance, political instability, and corruption are among the key reasons that cause problems for infrastructure delivery in underdeveloped nations. There were several obstacles to public infrastructure project delivery in South Africa. While these problems and variables apply to all types of infrastructure, public construction infrastructure needs to be immune to these issues. The Presidency [28] lists the following as enablers where communities may profit from better infrastructure project performance and where problems can be resolved via action. They listed project challenges as follows;


To overcome these challenges to ensure communities benefits from projects, they proposed many actions to improve the performance of infrastructure, including:


The Infrastructure Development Bill passed Act No. 23 of 2014 on June 2, 2014, aiming to increase the government's ability to deploy infrastructure. Infrastructure development is one of the essential strategies for resolving the legacies of privilege and underdevelopment that are a part of our terrible history [29].
