SAICE Presidential Inauguration

The South African Institution of Civil Engineering

February 04, 2012

SAICE Presidential Inaugurstion and Gala Dinner

The SAICE Presidential Inaguration will take place on 23 February 2012. The SAICE President for 2012, Martin van Veelen will deliver his address. Below is an abstract of what he will present on the evening

The centre of gravity for the corporate memory and acquired experience and knowledge of civil engineers in South Africa at present sits in the 55 to 60 year age group. At the same time there is a sizeable student component that has just entered the job market, or will do so in the near future. What is sadly lacking is the middle group where traditionally the transfer of experience and skills took place. This leaves a gap to fulfil the needs and expectations of young engineers to acquire the knowledge and skills that will allow them to function as competent professional engineers.

The window of opportunity is very short. Within the next five to ten years the accumulated wisdom will reduce drastically when the ‘old guard’ retires. The risk is that South Africa will then become more and more dependent on knowledge from outside the country in order to develop the infrastructure that is the foundation for economic and social development. We will then join the ranks of most other African countries where there is no significant local consulting industry, and where foreign technology and solutions are foisted on the population, whether it is suitable or not.

The biggest employer (direct and indirect) of engineering services in South Africa remains the Government (National, Provincial and Local), and the sector where most money is spent is in service delivery in the form of the provision and operation and management of infrastructure. It is therefore in this sector where experienced and knowledgeable professionals are required to plan the development of infrastructure, and also to oversee the sustainable management of the countries valuable infrastructure assets.

What is needed now, and it is needed urgently, is a succession plan that is practical and implementable. This plan has to be developed in consultation with the countries managers (i.e. Government) so that there is shared ownership and commitment. The implementation of this plan will require funding, and the mechanisms for this also have to be developed.

There are of course alternatives:

We can embark on a process to re-invent the wheel and hope that it turns out to be round, or
We can stand back, do nothing and over a few years wonder what happened. I believe that the time for action is now.

Previous Presidential addresses:

Presidential Address 2010: Ali Naidu’s "An African Engineer's Viewpoint".
Presidential Address 2009: Elsabé Kearsley's “Engineering a Better Future".
Presidential Address 2008: Johan de Koker's "Growing together as an Institution"
Presidential Address 2007: Neil Macloed's "A time of opportunity for Civil Engineering in South Africa"
Presidential Address 2006: Sam Amod's "The Ecology of Construction"
Presidential Address 2005: Mike Deeks's "Safety in Numbers for Construction"
Presidential Address 2004: Ron Watermeyer's "The Sustainable Lifestyle: Our Responsibility for the 21st Century"

SAICE Annual Members' Function

SAICE president on the ‘Credo of the African Engineer’

Seetella Makhetha has been inaugurated as the 109th president of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) in Johannesburg on 8 February 2011. In his presidential address ‘Credo of the African Engineer for a Sustainable Future’ Makhetha emphasised the engineer’s role in finding a fine balance between development and sustainability through an ethical leadership approach to service delivery and infrastructure creation.

“Just like doctors have the Hippocratic Oath to guide their actions to provide medicine to the sick, engineers should have a credo which would guide them in providing the fundamentals of human life, such as clean water, access to sanitation, roads and so on, in an ethical and moral manner,” asserts Makhetha.

He expressed the hope that the ‘Credo of the African Engineer’ would be embraced with enthusiasm by South African as well as fellow African engineers to be used as a tool towards achieving moral and ethical behaviour at all times.

SAICE’s obligations
“Universities are instrumental in creating the highest knowledge, expertise and innovation. Universities must also ensure that knowledge and expertise promote the welfare, culture and sustainable development of the surrounding society. However, adhering to ethical principles becomes increasingly difficult when faced with the realities of the working environment. It is in this area that learned societies such as SAICE, can make a huge contribution by providing the impetus for morality and sustainability through the introduction of a credo,” stated Makhetha.

As far as the Africa Engineers Forum is concerned, he aims at making operational the forum’s ideals to the extent that a challenging and achievable three-year programme of action would be developed through SADC and other regional organisations.

Anti-corruption initiative
Makhetha explained, “In order to enhance moral and ethical conduct, SAICE has embarked upon an anti-corruption campaign that includes a drama, performed by the Young Members’ Panel, as well as a training course focusing on ethics and corruption. The drama, adapted from the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Ethicana, depicts most facets of corruption in the civil engineering industry and provides solutions for its eradication. This drama was performed so successfully that the group was invited to perform in Tanzania in November 2010. Subsequently requests have also been received from Ghana and Zimbabwe as well as our own National Science and Technology Forum.”

Infrastructure Report Card for South Africa
Following the resounding success of the Infrastructure Report Card for South Africa in 2006, SAICE will launch its latest Report Card on 5 April 2011. Good news for all those who have been enquiring about a new Report Card. The first Report Card was aimed at informing the public and decision-makers of the condition of our infrastructure. It was an awareness campaign that had achieved its goal – namely publicising the facts. Makhetha stated that this is one of the instruments that SAICE would use to spread the message, also among our colleagues in African countries.

Makhetha announced that SAICE is seeking the input of its members, stakeholders and the public to be incorporated into the final SAICE Infrastructure Report Card for South Africa 2011. The details of how to submit your input will be available on the SAICE website soon, www.civils.org.za.

SAICE and conscience
Makhetha affirms, “Engineers are faced with finding a fine balance between development and sustainability. A quick and very visible example is the use of mobile phones and personal computers. In the past two decades the use and increasing digitisation of these two products have not only developed new service industries and created employment for hundreds of thousands of workers world-wide, but has improved communication that has considerably shrunk the world, so much so that every Gogo can now communicate with her children and relatives. These technical innovations have democratised access - be it registering to vote or obtaining examination results. This access increases individual freedom and creates a democracy of consumption. This product-based well-being, extended on a world-wide scale is proving to be intrinsically unsustainable. It creates unsustainable expectations and demand on national resources which the planet simply cannot supply on an infinite basis. For engineers therefore it is an ethical choice to provide an enabling solution which would allow people to acquire and maintain a sustainable and balanced lifestyle.” SAICE will have to raise awareness in any circumstance where government or any stakeholder embarks on unsustainable practices or legislation.

The ‘Credo of the African Engineer’
Before concluding, Makhetha presented the ‘Credo of the African Engineer’ which is based on the shared values of the ‘Order of the Engineer’ first recited in Cleveland in 1970:

I am an Engineer and in my profession I take deep pride. To it I owe solemn obligations.
Since the origins of humanity on the continent of Africa, human progress has been spurred by the engineering genius.
Engineers have made usable nature’s vast resources of material and energy for humanity’s benefit. Engineers have vitalised, and turned to practical use, the principles of science and the means of technology. Were it not for this heritage of accumulated experience, my efforts would be feeble.
As an Engineer, I pledge to practice integrity and fair dealing, tolerance and respect, and to uphold devotion to the standards and the dignity of my profession, conscious always that my skill carries with it the obligation to serve humanity by making the most sustainable use of Earth’s precious resources.
As an Engineer, I shall participate in none but honest enterprises. When needed, my skill and knowledge shall be given without reservation for the public good. In the performance of duty and in fidelity to my profession, I shall give the utmost.

Click here to download Seetella's Presidential Address.