12 February 2020 Consulting
Engineers South Africa’s (CESA) is calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa in his
upcoming State of the Nation Address (SONA) to deal with the slow pace of change in addressing both policy
and political uncertainty in the country.
“Further delays in the implementation of
infrastructure projects serves only to decimate our already struggling
construction sector,” states Chris Campbell, CEO of CESA.
While
acknowledging the larger issues that the country currently faces, CESA as the
key role player in the Infrastructure Development process is calling on
Government as a
short to medium term measure, to utilize the capacity that exists within the
private sector to, firstly, capacitate the state, and also to mentor some of
the young engineers that are currently employed in the state. The Owner’s
Engineer concept needs to be embraced as a short-term intervention, as well as
secondments from the private sector, to boost public sector capacity. CESA’s
members are also willing to volunteer some of their services, within a
structured framework, to unlock project opportunities.
“Let’s make South Africa one big construction
site again in order to kickstart the economic growth that will lead to job
creation and investment, “says President of CESA, Sugen Pillay
While CESA
welcomes the establishment of the Infrastructure and Investment Office and is
pleased to see that it resides within the Presidency. CESA has long been
calling for an Engineer General to oversee major infrastructure development in
the country and believes that this office will become the de-facto Engineer
General in the country.
CESA is also cautiously
optimistic that the Infrastructure Fund that will be housed within the
Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) will also start to gear into action, so
that funding for project preparation can be unlocked.
(ENDS)
CESA
Contact details:
Bonolo
Nkgodi
Manager:
Marketing and Communications
Tel:
011 463 2022
