Developing a Public Private Partnerships (PPP) framework for implementing road maintenance projects in South African rural communities

Abstract

South Africa's rural communities struggle with three main problems: lack of skills, low private sector investment, and poor infrastructure, which further undermines private investment in those communities. Even those with necessary skills lack opportunities to develop and deepen their skills fully. Consequently, their ability to become more competitive in the employment market is undermined. Skilled workforce and sustainable enterprises are the bedrock of any effort towards sustainable rural development. This study investigates the extent to which road maintenance activities contribute to skills transfer and enterprise development, with the aim of developing a simplified PPP (Public-Private Partnership) framework for rural road maintenance. The study used a qualitative research approach that employs personal and focus group interviews. Data was analysed using content and thematic analysis. The current PPP framework is not conducive to skill transfers and enterprise development through road maintenance projects. Overall, this study concludes that a small-scale PPP framework is indeed feasible, provided the cost of the transactions is lower. The study recommends that government should use the proposed framework from this research to bring about rural skills transfer and enterprise development. This study focused only on rural road maintenance; hence, this may influence the generalisability of the results to other sectors or service categories. Furthermore, this research explicitly focused on the South African PPP framework.