**1. Introduction**

The public sector is the most prominent player, investor, and contributor regarding infrastructure development. The Northern Cape Provincial Government is responsible for developing and initiating public infrastructure projects to improve communities' livelihood conditions. Risks are not immune to infrastructure projects within the Northern Cape. Project Management Institute defines project risk as an uncertain situation that might constitute a threat or an opportunity for achieving the project objectives [1]. Like any other, a construction project has defined goals and lists of activities to be completed within a predetermined beginning and finish [2]. Public infrastructure projects are expected to positively contribute to the development of communities and the local economy and are faced with many negative factors, including uncertainties and risks. Some of those infrastructure

projects are the construction of hospitals, roads, schools, and offices. According to the National Treasury Provincial Budgets and Expenditure Review ([3], p. 17), "Provincial Government Departments within the Northern Cape Province are mandated to deliver these infrastructure projects and related services to their sectors. Implementing agents, who usually work for provincial agencies, assist these departments; for example, the Department of Roads and Public Works is critical in planning, organising, monitoring, and supervising infrastructure projects. Infrastructure Projects directly affect the quality of life and the inclusive well-being of communities". Risk management is crucial in identifying and responding to such infrastructure projects' potential risks [3].

Siswana [4] states, "On 30th September 2019, Northern Cape Premier Dr Zamani Saul opened the long-awaited facility that started construction in 2006. Part of the facilities taking too long was because of unexpected and repeated delays." In his opening address, the Premier of the Northern Cape Province said, "What worries me is the fact that the implementation of this mental hospital, of this massive infrastructure project, reflects some major weaknesses in our capacity to implement infrastructure projects on time and budget." Infrastructure development plays a significant role in the growth of any economy. The Northern Cape Province is the largest province with a mass land, but small in the economic activity of South Africa. Over the last three years, the Northern Cape's total Provincial Infrastructure budget has decreased from R 3079 billion (Three billion and seventy-nine million rands) in 2017/18 to R 2846 billion (Two billion, eight hundred and forty-six million rands) in 2018/19. There has been a decrease in the allocation of incentives by sectors because of poor infrastructure planning and performance [5].

The causes of poor planning of infrastructure could negatively impact the performance and success of infrastructure construction within the Northern Cape, which may pose a risk. Many studies on project risk have focused on the risk management process and implementation. However, they have not yet delved into the main contributory factors to project risk leading to project failures in public infrastructure delivery. Again, most of these studies need to be more generic and focus on the provincial level to ascertain their unique risk factors and sources causing project failures [6–10]. South Africa's government spends money on public infrastructure projects to address the needs of the public. Albeit infrastructure projects within the public sector are confronted by risks that occur throughout the life cycle, the inefficient identification of risks and their sources throughout the project's life cycle would result in projects performing poorly and may lead to possible failures. Assessing risks throughout a project's life cycle can be an excellent method to make it more resilient and, as a result, more profitable for all stakeholders. This study explores the risks and causes of risks throughout the construction life cycle of infrastructure projects in the Northern Cape Province. Risks must be identified before they are controlled, managed, and mitigated. Identifying project risk aids in understanding the potential implications of risks and how to avoid them. Given the impact of risk management on a project's quality and cost, risk management goals should be an open activity throughout the project's life cycle. The subsequent sections will discuss the related literature, the methodology used to collect the relevant data, findings and the discussions and conclusion and recommendations.
