Government and industry to tackle infrastructure delivery challenges at Cox Yeats forum

What needs to change to accelerate infrastructure delivery in South Africa?

That question will be at the centre of Unlocking Infrastructure Delivery: Procurement Reform, PPPs and Practical Solutions, a high-level industry forum hosted by Cox Yeats in Sandton on 18 September 2026.

The forum will bring together government, construction and infrastructure leaders, multiple leading professional and industry bodies, and other built-environment stakeholders for a direct and solutions-focused discussion on the challenges affecting infrastructure procurement and project delivery. By bringing representatives from across these organisations together in one forum, Cox Yeats is creating an opportunity for a range of industry perspectives to be heard collectively and for those issues to be discussed directly with government.

Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson will deliver the keynote address and participate in the broader engagement, giving industry stakeholders an opportunity to hear directly from government and engage on some of the key barriers and bottlenecks affecting infrastructure delivery and how these can be overcome.

Rather than focusing only on what is preventing infrastructure projects from progressing, the forum is intended to examine what can practically be done differently.

Discussions will explore procurement reform, Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), public-private collaboration and some of the contractual, procurement and delivery challenges experienced across the infrastructure lifecycle.

Representatives from the participating professional and industry bodies will bring perspectives from across the built environment, putting practical industry challenges on the table before exploring potential solutions with government and fellow industry leaders.

Forum leadership and programme

Peter Barnard, Partner at Cox Yeats and a leading practitioner in construction, engineering and infrastructure law, will host and moderate the forum.

Barnard says the purpose of the engagement is to create space for a constructive conversation between those developing policy and those dealing with infrastructure delivery in practice.

“The real value of this forum is bringing government and industry into the same conversation. We want to identify the issues affecting delivery, but importantly, move the discussion towards practical solutions.”

The programme will include a Ministerial keynote address, industry perspectives, a panel discussion and audience Q&A.

For contractors, engineers, quantity surveyors, project managers, developers, infrastructure investors, legal professionals, public-sector representatives and other built-environment stakeholders, the forum provides an opportunity to participate directly in the infrastructure delivery conversation and put questions to government and industry leaders.

Event details

Date: Friday, 18 September 2026Registration: 10:30Programme: 11:00–14:30Networking lunch: From 14:30Venue: The Venue Green Park, 3 Lower Road, Morningside, Sandton

Attendance is complimentary, but registration is essential as capacity is limited.

Register now: https://forms.office.com/r/85rq00rmCr