World Engineering Day, a time of reflection on the state of SA’s infrastructure

World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development reiterates the South African Institution of Civil Engineering’s (SAICE) view that infrastructure operation and maintenance are complex activities that require a team of skilled technical professionals to avoid compromising the lifespan of assets through neglect.

World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development reiterates the South African Institution of Civil Engineering’s (SAICE) view that infrastructure operation and maintenance are complex activities that require a team of skilled technical professionals to avoid compromising the lifespan of assets through neglect.

World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development was proclaimed by UNESCO at its 40th General Conference in 2019. It has been celebrated worldwide on the 4th of March each year since 2020 as a UNESCO international day of celebration of engineers and engineering. 

The celebration of World Engineering Day provides an opportunity to promote engineering as a career and to highlight how engineering can change the world for the better. Steven Kaplan, President of SAICE, believes that this day is an opportunity to engage with government and industry to address the need for engineering capacity and the quality of engineers around the world, as well as develop strategic frameworks and best practices for the implementation of engineering solutions for sustainable development.

16 000 civil engineering professionals, at your service!

“Our 2022 Infrastructure Report Card (IRC) reveals that South Africa’s public service faces a debilitating shortage in engineering skills. Most municipalities are desperately understaffed in these crucial positions or staffed by people who do not have the requisite training or experience. At the level of leadership, engineering professionals are under-represented on the boards of state-owned enterprises and at senior management level in all spheres of government,” states Kaplan.

“Put simply, problem-solving skills and depth of knowledge differ from engineers to technologists to technicians. Infrastructure departments require the correct balance of all three of these professional categories to function well,” he continues.

In reality, the proportions of those employed in local government are alarmingly skewed towards the narrower-skilled technicians. As a result, most departments, and especially municipalities, do not have a balanced technical capacity even when they have increased the technical headcount. Many programmes to increase the capability of the public sector have consequently failed.

SAICE has the skills and capacity to assist the State in dealing with the so called shortage of engineers, and with solid programmes in place that assist with the road to accreditation remains open and committed to assisting wherever possible.

“Our membership base of approximately 16 000 civil engineering professionals remains a formidable repository of knowledge. Through our divisions, which hold vital technical and industry-related knowledge, we can without any obligation provide support in the areas of technology, implementation processes, quality of solutions and training, and development for technical capacity building,” explains Kaplan.

With this wealth of experience, SAICE has continued to advocate for partnerships between the public and private sectors. “Meaningful partnerships and collaboration will aid in achieving the shared goal of professionalising the public service. We are ready to engage and assist this country’s municipalities,” he adds.

“South Africa is home to a vast number of civil engineering professionals, many of whom are unemployed, and through adequate use of these engineers we can create sustainable jobs and grow the country’s economy. We have excellent, highly-experienced experienced local engineers who need to get first choice when it comes to local engineering work.”

Engineers can unlock SA’s economic potential

The 2022 IRC highlights how attempts to curb corruption have had the unintended consequence of discretionary powers being withdrawn from even those professionals with integrity, rendering them powerless (or fearful) to exercise judgement they have developed over years of practice.

Kaplan stresses the need to urgently appoint appropriately qualified and professionally registered technical people to plan, identify, procure and manage high-budget engineering projects in order to unlock the economy. The brain drain happening in the public sector is devastating; it costs the country money and resources to produce world-class engineers, only to lose them because they can’t find employment.

As a learned society with decades of experience and a membership of more than 16 000 civil engineering professionals, SAICE has the resources to fix, rebuild and grow South Africa’s vital infrastructure to world class standards to provide a better quality of life for all, and in so doing, create job opportunities through construction for millions of unemployed South Africans.