To ensure the successful outcome of its SIP7 projects, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Consulting Engineers South Africa (Cesa) and the South African Black Technical and Allied Careers Organisation (Sabtaco).

This entails support to broad government structures that are responsible for implementing and maintaining infrastructure projects.

The SIP7 projects lend support to 12 South African municipalities, Cesa president Naren Bhojaram says.

Prasa has been tasked by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) with the responsibility of ensuring proper corporate governance and management in the roll-out of projects in the 12 municipalities to ensure that their entire service delivery chain is up to standard.

In the latter part of 2012, Cesa addressed the Infrastructure Summit hosted by Deputy Presi- dent Kgalema Motlanthe on behalf of Business Unity South Africa. The purpose of the summit was to request input to analyse the lack of successful service delivery in South Africa. Cesa suggested that government partner and engage with the private sector to unlock the impasse it has with public service delivery, Bhojaram explains, noting that Prasa CEO Lucky Montana was also present at the presentation.

In the meanwhile, CoGTA has appointed Prasa to undertake SIP7 which is a multi- billion rand long-term project to support the strategic municipalities in the country. Prasa engaged Cesa and Sabtaco to assist it with the SIP7 projects and an MoU was signed on December 7, 2012.

State of Industry

Bhojaram tells Engineering News that business confidence in South Africa is dropping and Cesa is concerned about South Africa’s drop in the Transparency International corruption rankings. “At one point South Africa was in the top three in transparent countries in Africa and it now ranks ninth.”

Corruption in the civil engineering industry is on the increase, he points out. While in the past, corruption might have been restricted at senior levels, the depth of corruption is increasing to lower-level staff.

He notes that while it is easy to blame Presi- dent Jacob Zuma for corruption in South Africa, having himself been seen to be “unjustifiably” avoiding prosecution on corruption charges for the past ten years, he cannot solely be held accountable for the entire nations’ actions.

“Corruption needs to be brought to the fore and those responsible should be held accountable.

“Sustainability of an industry and the country as a whole is everyone’s business and, therefore, we all have to do our part. We can point fingers at government but it takes two to tango. However, leading by example is important for the development of a prosperous nation,” he notes, adding that leadership in South Africa is also failing.

“There is a lack of corruption consciousness and speed in decision-making from leadership continues to deteriorate. The failure of President Zuma to appoint a new head of the Special Investigations Unit, for a year, is case in point,” says Bhojaram.

However, he notes that Cesa is especially exci- ted about the appointment of Cyril Ramaposa as the African National Congress’s (ANC’s) deputy president at the party’s fifty-third national con- ference, in Mangaung, in December 2012.

“Ramaposa will bring business skills and knowledge to the ANC, required for government to promote better functioning of businesses in South Africa, which could lead to the roll-out of more projects.”
The key sustainability indicators for South Africa are education, economic and political certainty, job creation, the eradication of corruption and responsible development. “Cesa has a big role to play in improving these indicators,” Bhojaram notes.

Sustainability is about governance and economic freedom, he points out. “The economic freedom of South African citizens translates to economic sustainability.”

Therefore, leaders should be chosen on the basis of their ethical balance to ensure a sustainable future, Bhojaram asserts, adding that development should take place without compromising the quality of life for future generations.

Preserving Water Resources
There is not enough focus on water conservation and the global shortage of freshwater is a significant problem, says Bhojaram.

Of the total water on the planet, only about 2.5% is freshwater. “Therefore, the way we use and conserve our water is important. Engineers and scientists have an important role to play in this,” Bhojaram stresses.

Previously, great success was achieved through the Department of Water Affairs’ (DWA’s) Blue Drop and Green Drop certification programmes for potable water and sanitation sites respectively.

The Blue Drop certification programme evaluates water supply systems according to a stringent set of criteria to encourage municipal authorities to achieve the highest possible quality of drinking water. The initiative was implemented in 2010.

Green Drop certification, launched by the DWA in 2008, applies to the management of municipal wastewater treatment works. The programme encourages the processing of wastewater and discharge in a manner that is sustainable and environmentally acceptable.

However, according to the 2012 Blue Drop and Green Drop reports, published by the DWA, South Africa has slid backwards from the progress previously made as some local authorities are not using, cleaning and recycling their water properly.

“Government is fixated on new capital expenditure (capex) projects but existing infrastructure is deteriorating at a rapid rate. This includes water and waste- water infrastructure.”

Bhojaram points out that there is also a shortage of funds being allocated to operate and maintain infrastructure in South Africa. “Although overall budgets are adequate, cash resources may not be available. Allocation for operation and maintenance are hopelessly inadequate, with capex alloca- tions taking preference.” He points out that the issue is the misallocation of funds.

“Funds allocated for capex projects are also being misused, driven by corruption.”

Education

Bhojaram highlights that there is still a shortage of highly- skilled educators in the engineering sector, owing to inadequate skills development and remu- neration. This leads to skills being imported from overseas.

Minister of Higher Education Dr Blade Nzimande stated, in 2012, that there is a government trust aimed at providing free university education to the people of South Africa. “However, it is far more important to provide proper university education than free inadequate university educa- tion,” Bhojaram stresses.

“The quality of our university education is decreasing owing to a lack of adequate lecturers and facilities. These institutions need to be brought up to standard,” he says, noting that the poor literacy and mathematical results prevalent in primary schools also require urgent attention.

Unemployment needs to be tack- led, says Bhojaram, adding that improving the quality of education in South Africa and promoting commercial entre- preneurship and business savvy is key to job creation. “It is impossible for a country to be sustainable and prosperous if its working class and businesses are overtaxed to provide social grants to the unemployed. We should rather focus on getting South Africa working.”