Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson
SCORE: B-
Macpherson tackled the construction mafia in 2024. Since June 2024, 40 non-performing contractors have been blacklisted from doing business with the department.
Macpherson also suspended funding under the Expanded Public Works Programme to the Free State municipality of Matjhabeng following allegations of inflated salaries paid to politically connected individuals — pending a full forensic investigation.
He has also welcomed institutional reform and the efforts to turn around the Independent Development Trust (IDT), which elected a new chairperson in July. Macpherson described this as a crucial move to restore governance, improve infrastructure delivery and public confidence in trust.
However, the biggest achievement of Macpherson’s year has to be job creation. After StatsSA had announced that the unemployment rate fell from 33.2% to 31.9% in the third quarter of 2025, the data showed that 130 000 jobs were created in that quarter in the construction sector, which represented nearly half of all new jobs created in South Africa during that period.
It’s clear that Macpherson is using his role to clean up dysfunctional procurement and contractor management systems, blacklisting underperformers and holding them accountable. He aims to revive the construction sector as a jobs engine and growth driver.