Construction Alliance South Africa (CASA), an umbrella body of 36 organisations across the construction value chain, used the occasion of its first anniversary on 21 January 2021 to launch its website and confirm its commitment to rebuilding the sector.

Its membership is broad and includes built environment professionals, contractors, suppliers, manufacturers and industry bodies.

CASA evolved from the Construction Covid-19 Rapid Response Task Team, established during the hard lockdown in April 2020, to co-ordinate and present the sector’s contributions to the national economic recovery plan. The task team also developed and implemented safely reactivating construction sites when restrictions eased.

These and other successes convinced the participants to form an alliance built on the shared goal of rebuilding the sector. John Matthews of the KwaZulu-Natal Master Builders Association is CASA’s Chairperson, and Gregory Mofokeng of the Black Business Council in the Built Environment is the Deputy Chairperson.

“The need for unity in the sector cannot be over-emphasised. We have the enormous challenge of rebuilding the construction industry out of the rubble of COVID-19 and making it more inclusive, transformed, innovative and competitive,” explains Matthews.

Matthews says CASA broadens the sector’s channels of communication with the government. It unifies and amplifies the voices of built environment professionals and organisations at a time when construction is key to the country’s economic recovery.