At the annual President's Breakfast towards the end of January, the new president of the South African Association of Consulting Engineers (SAACE), Craig Clarke, highlighted that one of the top priority areas of focus during his presidency will be the formulation of a broad-based black economic empowerment (BEE) policy for the industry.
Says Clarke: "Government's broad-based BEE policy is a brilliant strategy which could not only achieve rapid and meaningful BEE but it would also significantly contribute to economic growth. I also believe that it will go a long way towards overcoming the problem of fronting, which has, for some time, been an issue that the SAACE has been tackling."
At the SAACE Convention and AGM in October, the Association decided to develop its own BEE policy in line with the balanced scorecard system developed by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Clarke says that the intention is to incorporate the SAACE policy into a Construction Industry Charter, which the sector is hoping to draw up at the Construction Summit, planned for April. He reported that the CSIR had been appointed in 2003 to investigate and assist the Association in the development of its BEE policy and from its investigations, some key demographics emerged.
"Currently, less than 5% of registered professional engineers in South Africa are black. This impacts negatively on the industry's capacity to grow equity within the profession, as it is essential that engineering practices should continue to be owned by engineers. However, on the positive side, over 10% of executive management of SAACE's member firms and over 25% of professional and technical staff are black. In total, more than 30% of the staff employed in consulting engineering firms are black. The members still have a long way to go, but in terms of the available resources they are doing well."
For some time, the SAACE has been reporting that there is a critical shortage of engineers both black and white, and it recognises that more black students need to be recruited to the industry. Clarke says that part of the difficulty is that since the construction industry has long been in decline, it has negatively impacted on the remuneration of consulting engineers. This is another area where he will focus his efforts.
"If we are to attract new recruits to consulting engineering, the culture of fee discounting has to be addressed. It is in the national interest for engineering professionals to be remunerated fairly and while certain government departments still insist on applying outdated fee scales, the Association believes that increasingly, consulting engineers will decline appointments for work where inadequate remuneration is offered. The current situation is not sustainable and if our engineering capacity is not addressed it will not keep pace with the expected economic growth and infrastructure demands over the next 10 years. Preliminary indications show that with annual growth in the region of 3 to 5%, the construction industry will have to double its capacity within 10 years.
For consulting engineering, this means a further 10 000 professional engineers will be required in order to meet future industry requirements. Without additional engineers, the country's economic growth could be seriously hampered. If fair remuneration is possible, consulting engineering will become a more attractive career option and it will be easier to attract new recruits to the industry."
Another area on which his presidency will focus is in young professional development. The Association has indicated that the consulting engineering is an ageing resource. With too few recruits joining the industry, and the average age of professional engineers being more than 50, it is essential that the young engineers already in the industry are fast-tracked.
Says Clarke: "Internationally, engineering is not viewed as a profession of choice and yet if South Africa is to develop the country it will need more engineers. The SAACE wishes to change this perception and aims to encourage the youth to follow a career in engineering, particularly consulting engineering. Internationally, through The International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC), there is already a move to form a forum of young professionals who can exchange information and bring new ideas into the profession. At the FIDIC Conference in 2003 in Paris, a very successful young professional forum formed part of the proceedings. Some of the member associations, such as Japan and Australia, have already formed young professional groupings and have already arranged exchange programmes between countries.
"The SAACE wants to launch a similar initiative in South Africa and we are aiming to include a young professional forum at our 2004 SAACE Convention. In order to encourage our young professionals, SAACE has also decided to include a Young Professional of the Year Award at its Glenrand MIB Annual Excellence Awards. By August, we hope to have secured sponsorship for the winner and the two runners-up to attend the FIDIC Conference in Copenhagen in September 2004."
Capacity building within South Africa is not the only issue facing the Association. It has expressed its commitment to NEPAD and it has highlighted some of the capacity issues facing Africa as a continent.
"The SAACE recognises that South Africa's future is linked to Africa and we are wholly committed to the principle that Africa must be developed by Africans. However, the allocation of donor funds is an issue that we have raised before and on which we will focus more of our efforts during 2004. Aid money often benefits the donor country and its economy more than the recipient country. As much as 70% of aid money goes back to the donor country, because of the prevalence of tied aid. Donors are also sceptical of Africa's ability to deliver, however, there are many good consulting engineers in Africa, but as a group they lack the capacity and organisation necessary to display the resources and expertise that will encourage the lending agencies to appoint local engineers rather than foreign ones.
Within FIDIC there is the Group of African Member Associations (GAMA) and, working with GAMA, the SAACE has initiated a process to establish a permanent Secretariat for GAMA in Africa. We have already engaged with NEPAD, the Africa Development Bank and United Nations to secure seed funding for the project.
On another level, through SAACE's international business development section, we are encouraging our member firms to partner with African consulting engineers in order to build capacity and lend support to projects in Africa. The goal is not for South African firms to take on all the work but to assist our fellow Africans build capacity within their own countries. Furthermore, the SAACE School of Consulting Engineering (SCE) has already made continuing education courses available to African engineers and this will be an increasing area of focus for the school in 2004."
Other areas that Clarke will focus on are the negative impact of preferential procurement policies, HIV/AIDS awareness and the continuing transformation of the SAACE from relying on the voluntary part time services of its members to serve on committees to a point where the Directorate takes on an increasing number of executive duties. Capacity building in this regard has progressed well.
On HIV/AIDS Clarke says that the SAACE intends initiating a HIV/Aids awareness programme amongst its member firms and intends to encourage the inclusion of HIV/Aids awareness programmes in contract documentation.
Says Clarke: "Engineering must be the single most critical profession on earth, without engineers there would be no water, no sanitation, no electrical energy, no roads, no railways, no airports, no harbours and no communications. There would be no healthcare facilities, no schools, no industry and no commerce. My message to our members is to 'Be Proud'. The consulting engineering industry of which we are a part is a vital national asset to be nurtured and cherished by government and the public. In meeting consulting engineers throughout the world, I am proud to say that I have always encountered great respect for the standard of South African engineering. We number among the best in the world."
More about SAACE
The SAACE is a non-profit voluntary business organisation representing over 425 firms throughout South Africa covering the full spectrum of engineering services.
For more information contact Graham Pirie, executive director, The South African Association of Consulting Engineers, 011 463 2022.
| Tel: | +27 11 463 2022 |
| Email: | [email protected] |
| www: | www.cesa.co.za |
| Articles: | More information and articles about Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) |
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