Evaluating the effect of delivery of government projects in the Northern Cape

MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2016The construction industry is a major player in the economy, generating both employment and wealth. However, many projects experience extensive delays and thereby exceed initial time and cost estimates. This study’s aim was to determine the causes of delays in project delivery in the Northern Cape, South Africa. One of the major challenges facing the Government today is the delivery of all construction and maintenance projects on time, within budget, and in accordance with the desired scope. The prevailing conditions that could exert an influence on project delivery are political, economic, and physical factors, as well as level of technological development, management style and construction techniques. Factors that negatively influence project delivery in the Northern Cape include geography, society and regulations, amongst others. Factors causing construction delays in projects differ from country to country, and due to different prevailing conditions every project is different, every organization is different, and so are business operating environments. The data that was collected during the survey was captured and analysed by the Statistical Consultation Services of the North-West University. Descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) were used to analyse the data. The sample population consisted of client department officials, community members, contractors and/or service providers, and NDPW officials with different fields of specialty, such as occupational health and safety, employment equity, project managers, works managers, generalists and team leaders or overseers, who were available and willing to participate during the week of sampling. This research may have opened the doors for researchers to explore the project management practices in the public sector of any other government departments in South Africa in order to validate the study. Researchers can also do research on strategies for management.Master