ENGINEER GENERAL OPINION PIECE

A better life for all is not a surprise – advocating for change in regulatory framework to protect engineering and human rights

Engineering IS the face of service delivery! ONLY engineers can make appropriate service delivery happen at the required standards!

The National Development Plan (NDP) 2030 states, “It is a plan for a better future; a future in which no person lives in poverty, where no one goes hungry, where there is work for all, a nation united in the vision of our Constitution.” This plan can only to be achieved through the effective roll-out of service delivery projects.

The primary purpose of government departments, public entities and local government, is to efficiently deliver, operate and maintain infrastructure.

It is important to remember that in the global economy, the state of a nation’s infrastructure provides one of the best indicators of its prosperity likelihood. A country that ignores engineering, does so at its peril!

President Ramaphosa pointed out, “As some of the projects are taking time to get off the ground and to enhance our efforts, I will assemble a team to speed up implementation of new projects, particularly water projects, health facilities and road maintenance.” To achieve this, the team MUST study the SAICE Infrastructure Report Card for South Africa 2017. These actions can ONLY be effected by engineers.

What is the Problem?

Problem 1

The NDP 2030: Our Future—Make It Work (2012) — seeks to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality, identifies the triple challenge of high poverty, inequality, and unemployment as major challenges for the country.

South Africa’s unemployment rate has again climbed in the third quarter of 2019, to 29.1% – its highest rate in over 16 years. The youth aged 15 to 24 are the most vulnerable. Graduates in this age group showed 31%. The graduate unemployment rate is lower than the rate among those with other educational levels, meaning that education is still the key to these young people’s prospects improving in the South African labour market. Add to this that hundreds of students from universities of technology cannot find experiential training jobs in order to complete their diplomas.

Problem 2

“Despite improvements in access to drinking water, more than one-third (37,6%) of households rated the quality of water services they received as average or poor in 2018, while 59.1% did not pay for the water they received.” [The General Household Survey (GHS) 2018 released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA)].

Problem 3

Engineering is not adequately regulated. It depends on those elected to power and/or heading infrastructure departments, ’allowing’ engineers and built environment professionals to serve communities.

In the engineering consultancy practice, Government is dependent on industry’s inadequate self-regulation. This provides opportunities for the technically unqualified to tender for engineering services projects. It also leads to improper financial, legal and political interference in projects.

Problem 4

The South African Constitution has Chapter 9 institutions to guard our democracy. All professions are included, except for engineering, which is an omission and an imperfection in the development of the South African Constitution. Engineering is the key solution-driven profession regarding the SA’s economy and addressing social development challenges.

Problem 5

Political interference negatively impacts local authorities and cities. An increased number of protests occurred, threatening economic shutdown and South Africa’s hard-earned democracy. (Auditor-General’s report).

Government structures lack knowledge on the identification of infrastructure projects and spending the allocated budgets appropriately on these projects. This is evident from the lack of structures, processes and systems to manage infrastructure spend and implementation. This is exacerbated by unsuitably qualified individuals lacking technical expertise, ineffectually occupying technical engineering posts.

Problem 6

The SAICE Infrastructure Report Card for South Africa (IRC) 2017 ascertained the true status of infrastructure in the country. It shows that the overall grade in 2017 was a “D”, meaning infrastructure is at risk of failure, with “E” = Unfit for Purpose. Examples: Water supply in major urban areas = “C+” (C = Satisfactory for Now), while supply of all other areas is “D”-. This situation hugely impacts inequality, poverty and unemployment, including that of young graduates.

The symbols are: A = World-class; B = Fit for the Future; C = Satisfactory for Now; D = At Risk of Failure, and E = Unfit for Purpose

Problem 7

A lot is expected from the industry, yet it is not afforded the support from government to allow it to do what is required to be done — the Business of Engineering, i.e. infrastructure provision/roll-out, running or being part of decision-making boards at SOEs like Eskom, Transnet, etc.

Problem 8

Inadequate regulatory framework opens the infrastructure system to corruption and Inefficiency.

Improving systems and processes throughout the infrastructure cycle will increase the number of interested parties doing the right things, resulting in the reduction of corruption. Curbing corruption. curb opportunities and incentives for corruption.

The Role of Engineer-General in problem-solving

The establishment of an office of Engineer-General, as a Chapter 9 institution, is to provide better governance and accountability for the successful implementation of service delivery and public infrastructure projects. This is a prerequisite for government to fulfil its mandate to provide in the basic needs of all its people.

The reality is that Young Professionals (YPs) are the leaders of tomorrow and, sometimes it is necessary to disrupt the “status quo” for the engineering industry to be recognised by the relevant government institutions. Engineering should be at the forefront and not on the backburner of infrastructure development, which is currently the situation. The industry is not at the decision-making table where future large projects are discussed without the input of suitably qualified, experienced, professional engineering practitioners #engineers. This is affecting YPs negatively.

In conclusion, The engineers and civil society requesting the institution of Engineer-General, implore you, the Presidency and Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, to ensure this

good idea becomes more than a ”plan on paper”, to implement it for infrastructure development by appropriately qualified engineering practitioners, who will deliver within budget, on time, in an effective and efficient manner. This will positively impact job creation and service delivery to communities to ensure quality of life for all.

The suggestion is that the Presidency call a CODESA of some kind to include some critical organisations in the infrastructure industry to affirm the idea or identify new ideas to remove the root causes of uneven or no service delivery, which lies at the core of all political promises to voters.

Alternatively, the engineering organisations or civil society and/or other interested parties could mobilise and engage with the Presidency to intervene to allow engineers to focus their efforts on improving lives and creating jobs through public infrastructure development.

By Yankho Banda, Marie Ashpole and Godfrey Ramalisa
(The views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the authors and not any organisation(s) the individuals are affiliated to)