Built environment professionals organisation the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) has released its '2022 Infrastructure Report Card (IRC)', which gives the country's infrastructure an average rating of D, on a scale of A to E, with A being world-class infrastructure and E being failed or failing infrastructure.

The D rating means that the infrastructure is not coping with normal demand and is poorly maintained, with risks of any incidents having severe impacts on operations.

However, the report authors emphasise that: "[w]ith the notable exception of energy generation, South Africa's economic infrastructure remains in a satisfactory (or better) condition.

"However, social infrastructure continues to deteriorate," they state.

It is important to note that there is a difference between social and economic infrastructure, said SAICE 2022 IRC convenor and former SAICE president Sam Amod.

"If we do not invest enough in social infrastructure, but have good economic infrastructure, the wealthy get wealthier and inequality gets wider. Unless we invest in social infrastructure properly, people will not have the mobility to find jobs and keep jobs, and we will not keep them healthy and educated, as examples," he said during the launch of the document.

While the quality of national roads has improved dramatically, rated at B+ or future fit, up from a C rating previously, paved roads in urban areas have deteriorated from a C rating down to a rating of D, and other municipal paved roads have remained at a D- rating.

By contrast, airports, ports, oil and gas pipelines and heavy haul freight lines are rated at B or B-, albeit that heavy haul freight and airports deteriorated from A- to B-, and fishing harbours have improved from a C rating to B.

In terms of social infrastructure, public schools have remained at a rating of D, while public hospitals have deteriorated from a C rating to a D+ and clinics have dropped from a C- rating to a D rating.

Similarly, passenger rail lines have deteriorated from a C- to an E rating, which means the infrastructure is unfit for purpose and either has failed or is on the verge of failing.

"Infrastructure is at the centre of what we do socially and economically and has a direct impact on development. We often get asked why we produce this IRC. If we do not measure the quality of infrastructure, we cannot manage it, and if we do not have transparency, we will not have informed citizens able to make good decisions about what they want to do as citizens," said Amod.

Similarly, infrastructure delivery and management play an important role in addressing the triple challenges of inequality, unemployment and poverty, he noted.

"It is essential for SAICE to produce this IRC on a regular basis to encourage us to look after our infrastructure and to keep citizens informed about the status and trends of their infrastructure, and to highlight areas of excellence," SAICE IRC steering committee member Errol Kerst agreed.

At the inception of the IRC in 2006, South Africa's overall infrastructure rating was D+. With investment for the World Cup 2010, the rating improved to C- in the 2011 IRC. However, since this peak, the trend has been downwards, falling to D+ in 2017 and a D in 2022, said SAICE president Professor Marianne Vanderschuren.

"We need to be more aware of our infrastructure and the investment and maintenance or lack thereof, as, without infrastructure, the economy and society cannot function," she said.

Out of the 32 infrastructure subsectors rated in the 2022 IRC, there was only one A rating (for the Gautrain), eight B ratings and six C ratings. There were also 13 D ratings and four E ratings.

"This means more than 50% of the infrastructure is at risk of collapsing or has collapsed. We need to take action as soon as possible. We should have started," she highlighted.

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