Mapping the Landscape: Challenges and Growth Prospects for Construction SMEs in Gauteng Province, South Africa

Construction SMEs contribute significantly to the growth and development of national economies and provinces. The study aimed to explore the prevalent challenges and growth prospects of construction small and medium enterprises operating in Gauteng Province, South Africa. It followed a multi-method qualitative approach, a systematic literature review followed by semi-structured interviews. A systematic literature review was initially conducted to examine the available scholarly literature from Google Scholar and Web of Science databases on the study area. From the databases, 24 studies were screened for a detailed review from the initially selected 185 publications. A thematic content analysis was conducted to explore different themes from the screened studies analysed using ATLAS.ti24 software. Then a semi-structured Interview was conducted with Fifteen Owners/Managers of construction SMEs operating in Gauteng province. Subsequently, six major categories of challenges were identified: corruption and ethical issues, financial and economic barriers, regulatory and governance shortcomings, organizational gaps, project performance gaps, and market constraints. The study, with a similar research approach, uncovered different prospects, which were grouped into three key areas: financial and policy support, technological and digital advancements, and market and strategic collaborations. Based on these findings, a framework was developed to capture the interplay between these challenges and opportunities. The study offers practical recommendations for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and SMEs to address critical impediments while capitalizing on available opportunities.